Bray Wanderers -v- Dundalk
Credit:
Bray Wanderers' convincing 6-0 victory in Galway last weekend put pay to any ideas Dundalk may have had of overtaking the Seagulls in the final round of Premier Division matches this Friday. Kick-off, 7.45pm.
To end the season on a pleasant high is the only genuine goal that either Pat Devlin or Ian Foster can genuinely aspire to when their charges line out at the Carlisle Grounds. They will complete their quota of league games in sixth and seventh places regardless of the outcome here.
One man who does have something novel to achieve is Dundalk’s captain Simon Madden. If he completes the full ninety minutes of this game then he will have played every minute of every competitive fixture his side have partaken in this season, fifty games altogether.
Dundalk left Bray with a 5-1 league win for their troubles in June, but Bray’s last few results would suggest that the visitors will have a more difficult task this time around. The home team have won impressively twice on the trot now, scoring ten in the process.
"We are looking forward to the [Dundalk] game,” said Bray’s first team coach Keith Long. “Dundalk are a side we haven't beaten this season, and we would like to finish on a high.”
Dundalk may look to exploit the absence of Bray’s premier stopper Darren Quigley who is still out with an elbow injury. Mater Dei legend Brian Kane continues to deputise after his clean sheet out in the west.
The Lilywhites are hardly flying high though. A Johnny Breen goal gave them their first league win home or away in three months as they narrowly fought off the challenge of near neighbours Drogheda last weekend.
Foster will be sweating over the availability of Breen when he picks his starting eleven, along with the long term injuries that have hampered his selections over the past number of months.
Bray Wanderers
Injured: Darren Quigley
Doubtful: Chris Shields, Sean Houston
Suspended: None
Dundalk
Injured: Eoghan Osborne, Stephen Maher, Mark Griffin
Doubtful: Johnny Breen, Stephen McDonnell
Suspended: None
Referee: Alan Kelly
Paddy Power Odds: Bray Wanderers 10/11; Draw 12/5; Dundalk 12/5
Extratime prediction: A Bray Wanderers win.
