League Report: Bray Wanderers 0 - 5 Galway United

Galway United picked up their first away win of the season in the Carlisle Grounds on Saturday evening as they comfortably dispatched Bray Wanderers 5-0 thanks to an impressive hat trick from Enda Curran.

Having suffered his first defeat on Monday against a strong Shamrock Rovers side earlier in the week, Bray caretaker manager, Maciej Tarnogrodzki, would have been eager to find the form that had seen the Seagulls achieve back to back wins in his first two matches.

But it was the visitors who were quickest out of the blocks as Enda Curran took advantage of a spilled catch by Stephen McGuiness by striking the ball through a mass of bodies and into the Bray goal.

McGuiness made up for his mistake a minute later by saving a rasping shot from Ryan Connolly before Jake Keegan squandered a glorious opportunity, pushing his free header wide of the Seagulls’ goal. Enda Curran was then brought down by Alan McNally whilst through on goal in what looked like a dubious challenge, but referee David McKeon waved play on, enraging the small, but vocal, band of travelling fans.

Soon after Padraic Cunningham broke clear of the Bray defence but dragged his shot wide of the target in what was an early onslaught by the Tribesmen.

It took 23 minutes before Bray conjured up a meaningful chance when David Cassidy stretched to reach a long ball into the Galway area, his improvised volley left the motionless Ger Hanlon watch the ball drift agonisingly wide of the upright.

Galway then doubled their lead when a perfectly accurate Gary Shanahan cross from the right wing was met by an equally strong Enda Curran header as the Galway man doubled his tally for the night.

A well-timed last-ditch Alan McNally tackle denied Padraic Cunningham from what would surely have been a third just before half time but the westerners would have been satisfied with the 2-0 score line as they headed for the dressing rooms.

Galway began the second half as they did the first with Cunningham out-pacing Hugh Douglas to carve out a scoring opportunity, however McGuiness did well to block the low shot. The Wanderers’ net minder also made an astute double save shortly after, as Galway piled on the early pressure in search of a goal that would likely kill the game off.

Curran found the net again, latching onto a well-timed Colm Horgan through ball to dispatch his sixth goal of the year and third of the night. Ger Hanley then made two important saves to prevent a Bray fightback, first tipping over a powerful Hugh Douglas header before claiming a low shot from the edge of the area moments later.

It got even better for Galway though when Ryan Connolly struck what will be a contender for goal of the month when he unleashed an unstoppable drive from 35 yards that clipped the post on its way past a helpless McGuinness. The stunning strike prompted a chorus of ‘You’re not magic anymore’ from the entertaining United fans, directed at Wanderers’ boss Maciej Tarnogrodzki.

Bray’s misery was compounded when Padraic Cunningham made it five, taking advantage of some abysmal defending to strike a low and powerful shot into the corner of the Wanderers net.

Galway closed out the game with minimal trouble and will be delighted to have claimed their biggest ever win over the Seagulls. Bray fans however will be concerned that they appear to be returning to the form that saw them lose their opening 5 matches of the season.

Bray Wanderers: Stephen McGuinness; Michael Barker, Hugh Douglas, Alan McNally, Daniel O’Reilly (Niall Cooney 72); Adam Hanlon, Graham Kelly (Luke Gallagher 77), Ryan McEvoy, David Scully (Emika Onwubiko 58); Peter McGlynn, David Cassidy.
Subs not used: Brian Kane (gk), Adam Mitchell, Peter Durrad, Chris Lyons.

Bookings: O’Reilly (66).

Galway United: Ger Hanley; Colm Horgan, Sam Oji, Stephen Walsh, Marc Ludden; Gary Shanahan (Conor Barry 75), Jake Keegan, Paul Sinnott (David O’Leary 63), Ryan Connolly; Padraic Cunningham, Enda Curran (Alex Byrne 69).
Subs not used: Conor Winn (gk), Kevin Garcia, Cormac Raferty, Antaine O’Laoi.

Bookings: None

Referee: David McKeon.

Attendance: 400 (estimate)

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Enda Curran (Galway United FC).