Bray

[ForzaForth]

Raining here all day today. I'm assuming the match is going ahead and there should be an audio commentary at the usual link.

http://www.mixlr.com/wexfordyouths

[ForzaForth]

On another awful night for football in Ferrycarrig Park, a dogged but effective performance by the Youths got them what they craved most - a first win and three points. Wexford made one surprising change moving Lee Grace into midfield alongside Danny Ledwith and went with Graham, Craig, Lasty, Gary, Ryan, Eric, Danny, Lee, Aidan and with Spot and Danny up front. Bray had the gale at their backs in the first half and started like a train with Wexford all over the place. Bray had three corners in the first two minutes and, with good delivery, could have scored from all three except for Graham pulling off two good saves - the second being from a point-blank header. Two minutes later, a Bray attacker rounded Graham Doyle in the Youths goal wide on the left wing, but the chance went as the Youth's defenders got back. Around the quarter hour mark, Youths appeared to settle down and started playing directly in the swirling wind with liberal use being made of Craig McCabe's long throws. On 18 minutes, Wexford's dominance in the air, which lasted all match, paid dividends when Spot Murphy won a header in the Bray area which seemed to take a deflection past Cherrie in the Bray goal for 1-0 to the home side. On the half hour mark, Graham Doyle made a good and secure catch from a Bray shot which travelled a long way into a busy Youth's penalty area. A minute later, another long throw from Craig McCabe for the Youths had the Bray defence in trouble again, but Cherrie made a good save. Graham then a save from another Bray corner with eight minutes to go in the half before a final Bray corner was blocked on the line by a Youth's defender to leave the Youths happy to be going in 1-0 up at half-time.

[ForzaForth]

Conditions improved a bit in the second half but the Youths now had the wind in their favour. On five minutes, the Bray centre-half picked up a yellow for a tackle on Aidan Friel. Just after the quarter hour, Friel also managed to get a shot on target for the Youths but Cherrie got down to save. Youths were now dominating the physical challenges and this led to a two-on-one break for the Youths on 23 minutes but the excellent Hugh Douglas for Bray got back to make a saving tackle. Danny Furlong was obviously struggling at this point and soon went off to be replaced by Hopper Kenny. Youths got more nervous as the match entered its final stages but continued to dominate particularly in the air where they won virtually every ball. Andy Mulligan then came on for Lasty and Craig Wall was the final substitution for the Youths for Danny Ledwith who had just got a yellow for a tackle. We are getting used to late goals in Ferrycarrig but this time it was nicked by Wexford when in the last minute and with Bray throwing everybody forward, Andy Mulligan was sent free down the left and his cross found Spot Murphy in the box who coolly finished for 2-0 to the Youths. Final whistle blew moments later.

[ForzaForth]

Best for Wexford was man of the match Spot Murphy who deserved his brace and who used the ball most effectively on the Wexford side. Lasty looked very solid at the back while Danny Ledwith put in a good stint in midfield and Aidan Friel looked lively down the left. Bray had problems dealing with Wexford in the air and probably were second-best physically around the pitch with the exception of Douglas who looked the stand-out player for the away side. Although it was a bad night for football, Wexford's main weakness on the night was the transfer of the ball forward from defence and midfield which was given away far too cheaply at times. On a night when you wouldn't put a cat out, the attendance was called at 416.