Bray Wanderers 2 - 0 Galway United

The Bray Wanderers renaissance continued in the Carlisle Grounds on Friday evening, as early goals from Gary Dempsey set-pieces by Conor Murphy and Derek Prendergast helped them to cruise towards victory over a depleted Galway United side. Truth be told, there was only ever going to be one winner from this game, as Bray continued to consolidate their positioning among the top teams in the division.

In their victory over Drogheda United last week, much of the damage was done by Bray in the opening ten minutes, when they had already gone two goals in front. Pat Devlin would obviously have been hoping for the same kind of attitude at the start of this game, and it was very much like Groundhog Day, as The Seagulls once again moved into an early two-goal advantage.

The first goal came on three minutes, as Murphy got on the end of a Dempsey corner on the left, and his near-post header had enough power to beat the stranded Greg Fleming in the Galway goal. After a disappointing defeat to Derry City last week, this was exactly the kind of start that Sean Connor would have been hoping to avoid, and things would get worse for them just six minutes later when yet another Dempsey corner from the left-hand side caused problems for the Galway rearguard, and centre-half Prendergast was on hand to bundle the ball over the line.

This was no more than the home side deserved, as they had a couple of chances in between both strikes to add even further to their goal tally. Things did settle down slightly after this, though Bray continued to be in control, and Galway were only threatening on the very rare occasion, with the pace of left- winger Karl Moore looking like their most realistic outlet in attack. It was proving difficult to get the ball to their attackers however, as the Bray midfield, marshalled superbly by both Gary Dempsey and Danny O'Connor, were very much dictating the tempo of the play.

As the half wore on, Bray continued to look for the third goal that would effectively kill the tie off, and a powerful 35-yard drive from Dempsey almost found the back of The Tribesmen's net, but it flew just past the right-hand post. Jake Kelly also went close on 38 minutes with a right-footed strike that he hit into the ground, but Bray, understandably, took their foot off the gas towards the end of the half, and had to be content with a more than welcome 2-0 lead as match referee Graham Kelly sounded his half-time whistle.

Things were looking extremely ominous for the Terryland Park-outfit, even at the mid-way stage, as they hadn't shown any sign that could cause the kind of damage to the Bray defence that might yield a goal. Much the same could have been said about Drogheda last week though, and they ended up forcing their way back into the game during the final ten minutes, so it was important that Galway kept going until the end, and also that Bray didn't start to rest on their laurels too much.

To be fair, Galway did come into a game a bit upon the re-start, as they started to gain a reasonable amount of possession for the first time in the match. There certainly wouldn't be anyone questioning their effort, but they were still finding it hard to create any meaningful opportunity in the Bray half, and it was no surprise that the first real chance of the second period fell the way of the Wicklow side when Kelly received the ball in space, but his shot on goal was well wide of the target.

Galway looked to address their deficit by introducing Shane Keogh and Gary Kelly for Brian Cash and Enda Curran respectively, and it certainly did give the visitors fresh impetus, and Wanderers similarly were looking to brighten things up by introducing last season's regular striker Shane O'Neill instead of goalscorer Murphy.

One of the more intriguing aspects of the second half was the battle between Jake Kelly and Galway right-back Shaun Kelly, who was giving as good as he got for the most part. The Bray number 11 managed to escape his clutches on 74 minutes however, and his cross on the left was well delivered, but unfortunately no one was on the end of it. Bray also had a glorious chance to bag their third goal of the game just a minute later when O'Neill raced through on goal, but Fleming pulled off an excellent save to deny him from close-range.

Galway continued gamely to force their way back into the game, and they finally had their first shot on target with 13 minutes remaining, but Moore's shot from outside the box was comfortably saved by Darren Quigley in the Bray goal. Shaun Kelly had their best chance of the game with two minutes left, and Quigley had to at his best to turn his shot over the bar.

This would only have been a consolation for The Westerners though, as Bray were fully deserving of the three points. So, Bray continue to surprise more and more people, while Galway, on this evidence, will have a mammoth task on their hands if they are to secure top-flight football for next season.

Bray Wanderers: Darren Quigley; Dave Webster, Adam Mitchell, Derek Prendergast, Dane Massey; John Mulroy (Dean Zambra 78), Gary Dempsey, Danny O'Connor, Jake Kelly; Conor Murphy (Shane O'Neill 69), Chris Shields.
Subs not used: Matt Gregg, Daire Doyle, Sean Houston, Graham Kelly, Joe Kendrick.

Bookings: S O'Neill (85).

Galway United: Greg Fleming; Shaun Kelly, Paul Sinnott, Steven Feeney, Stephen Walsh; Bobby Ryan, Brian Cash (Shane Keogh 58), Eduardo Dusi, Sean Kelly, Karl Moore; Enda Curran (Gary Kelly 58).
Subs not used: Conor Winn, Rory Gartland, Keith Duffy, Paul Smith, Darragh Duggan.

Bookings: Sean Kelly (21), Brian Cash (24).

Referee: Graham Kelly (Cork).
Extra Time Man Of The Match: Gary Dempsey (Bray Wanderers).