League Report: Bray Wanderers 0 - 0 Longford Town

It finished scoreless between Bray Wanderers and Longford Town in the Carlisle Grounds on Friday evening as both sides couldn’t find a winner amongst some great chances in this Premier Division clash.

The game got off to a fast pace with Longford’s David O’Sullivan shooting straight at Peter Cherrie after a cross from Lee Duffy. A raised flag saved the striker’s blushes as he really should have found the back of the net.

Bray caused plenty of headaches for the visitors through Dylan Connolly as he showed quick feet in beating defenders throughout the game. In the ninth minute, he got onto a Ger Pender pass after Andrew Lewis knocked it down and charged into the box. To the anguish of the Seagulls faithful though, he curled his effort over the bar.

It took Longford a while but they forced another opening near the 20 minute mark as Kevin O’Connor saw his shot blocked by Alan McNally for a corner. The midfielder crossed to the back post where Rhys Gorman hit towards goal. It was blocked off the line by Cherrie and a series of panicked touches finally saw it cleared.

Kaleme Simon was creating openings for the the Town with his deep cross seeing Duffy volleying back across soon after. O’Connor got on the end of it and shot at goal but Bary skipper Conor Kenna was there to block out the attempt.

While Longford had the chances in this spell, Bray had the possession and they were soon back in the hunt for a goal when Hugh Douglas crossed from the right.

Pender went over the ball and left Lewis with a free shot from the centre of the box. Paul Skinner did well to block with his feet and James Mulhall did even better to tackle Dylan Connolly as he went to strike the loose ball home.

In an end-to-end few minutes, David O’Sullivan saw a shot cleared off the line by Alan McNally before having a looping header easily saved by Bray ‘keeper Cherrie after Simon crossed.

Connolly started an attack with some cross-field running before releasing the ball to Moore. The resulting cross saw Lewis get a header at the back post but saw it hit the back of a defender and the outside of the post instead of in the back of the net.

Soon after, Ryan Brennan broke forward for Bray and crossed for Dylan Connolly at the back post. He took a touch but saw his shot come off Skinner’s legs and clear.

Andrew Lewis then tested the Longford netminder from outside the box, after good work from Moore and Pender, though it was an easy save for the goalkeeper to make.

As the game came towards halftime, both teams would have another chance each as first Connolly cut inside and curled one that Skinner had to push behind for a corner before Lewis saw his lob go straight into the arms of the ‘keeper as the referee blew his whistle.

The second half saw an early shot from Longford’s Kevin O’Connor go into Cherrie’s arms but only half-chances were created for a while after that. A potentially game changing moment came just before the hour mark as James Mulhall received a second yellow for once again tackling Bray’s danger man Connolly.

A reshuffled Longford side limited Bray to long shots though as both Pender and Brennan tried their luck to no avail.

Counterattacks were Longford’s only way of attempting to win the match and after Lee Duffy saw two hopeful chances blocked, Kevin O’Connor did well to hold onto the ball before sending a low cross into O’Sullivan’s feet. The striker strode up to hit a great shot that drew an even better save from Cherrie as De Town were denied.

Near misses by Robbie Creevy and Douglas followed as Bray grew with attacking intent in the last fifteen minutes of the game. Brennan was also foiled by Skinner after good work from Connolly as the Seagulls pushed for a winner.

As the match dwindled with Bray not getting a clear cut opportunity, Josh O’Hanlon had a chance from outside the box in a rare bit of possession for Longford. However, the substitute shot well wide of the desired target as both sides finished with a point that left them very much in relegation trouble.

Bray Wanderers: Peter Cherrie; Hugh Douglas, Conor Kenna, Alan McNally, Sean Harding (Jason Marks 73); Karl Moore, Ryan Brennan, Robbie Creevy, Dylan Connolly; Ger Pender (Dean Kelly 73), Andrew Lewis.

Subs not used: Aaron Shanahan, Gareth McDonagh, Darragh Noone, Alan Byrne, Mark Salmon.

Booked: Ryan Brennan (26), Alan McNally (51), Sean Harding (67), Dylan Connolly (77).

Longford Town: Paul Skinner; James Mulhall, Pat Flynn, Mark Rossiter (Peter McGlynn 62), Rhys Gorman, Conor Powell; Philip Gannon, Kevin O’Connor; Kaleem Simon; David O’Sullivan, Lee Duffy (Josh O’Hanlon 73).

Subs not used: Daniel O’Reilly, Kealen Dillon, Mark Hughes, Don Cowan, Ian Molloy.

Booked: James Mulhall (4 and 59), Pat Flynn (74), Conor Powell (86).

Sent Off: James Mulhall (59).

Referee: Kevin O’Regan.

Attendance: 350 (estimate).

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Dylan Connolly (Bray Wanderers).

You can see Al Robinson's pictures from the game here.