League Report: Bohemians 2 - 1 Bray Wanderers

There was late drama in Dalymount Park as a last minute goal from striker Dinny Corcoran gave Bohemians a hard earned victory over Bray Wanderers.

The game began at a frenetic pace as Daniel Kelly opened the scoring for Bray after just three minutes in.

Bray broke quickly through Gary McCabe who played the ball into the corner to Jake Kelly. Kelly’s cross was inch perfect and was met by an un-marked Daniel Kelly in the box. Kelly finished well with a lovely downward header but Bohemians should never have afforded him that much space.

Bohemians to their credit didn’t dwell on their error and had an immediate response. After a lovely dribble by Karl Moore the ball was pulled back to Ian Morris who lined up a shot from more than 30 yards. The shot had to be perfect from that distance and in this instance it absolutely was. The ball snuck just inside the right post and left Aaron Dillon with no chance in the Bray Wanderers goal.

The Gypsies enjoyed a dominant 20 minutes after their first goal and particularly found a lot of success playing through Moore on the left side of midfield. They found a second goal elusive however as shots from Eoghan Stokes and Oscar Brennan both for a similar position on the edge of the box went just wide of the left post.

Dan Casey who scored twice from set-pieces on opening night here had an excellent chance for his third goal of the season after 15 minutes with a back post header from a Bohemians free kick. Dillon was more than equal to it though on this occasion.

Bray’s best chance of the first half aside from their goal came after 28 minutes from another attacking free kick this time in the Bohemians corner. The cross to the back post was attacked by Darragh Noone who must have thought he’d scored. To his disappointment however Shane Supple in the Bohemians goal produced a world class save as he dove across the goal at full stretch to palm the header away from danger.

Bohemians began the second half brightly. Confusion in the Bray defence led to a collision between Dillon and one of his defenders. Paddy Kavanagh attempted to take advantage of the ‘keeper’s absence but his chip landed on the roof of the net much to the relief of the Bray defenders on the line.

It was the introduction of Keith Ward after 60 minutes which really got the Bohemian’s attack going. He was taking control of the ball in midfield and giving Dinny Corcoran the supply that he didn’t have in the first half.

Both teams to their credit were still chasing the win and while clear goal scoring chances were rarer in the second half the game was end-to-end.

It was however the combination of Ward to Corcoran in the last minute of normal time which gave Bohemians their first win since opening night. Ward picked up the ball in the box and after being swarmed by the Bray defenders noticed Corcoran free to his right. Corcoran finished the opportunity with the calm poise of a goal scorer as his low, hard shot went in to the bottom right hand corner. 

It was a brave performance from Bray on the night but Bohemians will feel they were good value for their win.  Next up in the league for the Gypsies is a daunting away trip to Oriel Park on Good Friday while Bray will host the champions Cork City.

Bohemians: Shane Supple; Darragh Leahy, Dan Casey, Rob Cornwall; Paddy Kavanagh, Oscar Brennan, Keith Buckley, Karl Moore (Kevin Devaney85), Ian Morris (Dylan Watts 80); Eoghan Stokes (Keith Ward 59), Dinny Corcoran.

Subs not used: Colin Mc Cabe, Dan Byrne, Philip Gannon, JJ Lunney.

Yellow Cards: None.

Bray Wanderers: Aaron Dillon; Hugh Douglas, Kevin Lynch (Rhys Gorman 85), Conor Kenna, Seán Heane; John Sullivan, Jake Kelly, Daniel Kelly (Calvin Rogers 81), Gary McCabe, Darragh Noone (Paul O’Connor 79); Aaron Greene.

Yellow Cards: Kevin Lynch (23), John Sullivan (41).

Subs not used: Evan Moran, Ger Pender, Dylan Hayes, Ronan Coughlan.

Referee: Rob Rogers.

Attendance: 1,853 (official).

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Keith Ward (Bohemians).