League Preview: Bray Wanderers -v- Finn Harps

BRAY WANDERERS

The Seagulls kick off their home campaign against Finn Harps (kick-off 7.45pm) on the back of an impressive 2-1 away win against St. Patrick’s Athletic on the opening night of the season. Dylan Connolly was the star man at Richmond Park along with goal scoring debutants Anto Flood and Gary McCabe.

Reflecting on the Seagulls opening fixture, Head Coach Harry Kenny was extremely happy with his side’s performance. “I am very pleased with last week’s performance and result. We controlled the majority of the game and should have won more comfortably.

“The players were very disciplined and professional and showed a great desire to achieve the result. It’s three points and a good start to the season and we now look forward to the visit of Finn Harps at the Carlisle Grounds on Friday”.

John Sullivan didn’t train on Tuesday due to a hamstring strain and will be assessed closer to kick off, but with Darragh Noone and Conor Earley both recovering from injury the home side will be looking to take six points from six from their opening two fixtures.

Bray were backed by a large travelling support last Friday in Inchicore and will be hoping for a bumper turnout this week as they face a Finn Harps side hoping to bounce back from a narrow loss on their first outing.

FINN HARPS

Harps went down to a narrow 1-0 defeat against title hopefuls Cork City at Finn Park last Friday. They will count themselves unfortunate not to have come away from that game with a point. The home side piled on the pressure in the closing stages but were unable to breakdown a resilient City defence.

Ollie Horgan is expecting another tough test this week. “It was disappointing to lose to Cork because the goal we conceded was poor from a defensive point of view.

“So we’re now going to Bray with no points on the board from a home game and we’re playing a team that went away from home and defeated St. Patrick’s Athletic last Friday night.

“Harry Kenny did a great job with Bray in the second half of last season and he has added to his squad since so we’re going to be up against in terms of taking points out of the Carlisle Grounds” Horgan said.

Striker Danny Morrissey is out with a knee injury sustained in the Cork game, midfielder Jonny Bonner is struggling with a back problem, while defender Cillian Cantwell (thigh) hasn’t trained this week. After getting 20 minutes from the bench against Cork, marquee signing Paddy McCourt will be hoping to see more action this time out.

Referee: Anthony Buttimer

MATCH STATS

Friday’s game will be the 68^th meeting of the two clubs and the 26^th to be played at the Carlisle Grounds. The two sides have proven to be very evenly matched down through the seasons with the Harps shading it by 20 victories to 19.

The Seagulls were 1-0 winners in the corresponding fixture last season while Harps came out on top in Ballybofey with a 2-1 victory.

BETTING

Bray Wanderers 8/13; Draw 13/5; Finn Harps 5/1 .

PREDICTION

Bray Wanderers 3 – 1 Finn Harps

Bray Wanderers:

Injured: None.

Doubtful: John Sullivan

Suspended: None.

Finn Harps:

Injured: Danny Morrissey

Doubtful: Jonny Bonner, Killian Cantwell

Suspended: None.