Dundalk 0 - 2 Bray Wanderers
Credit:
Penalties in either half from League of Ireland veteran Jason Byrne gave Bray Wanderers a comfortable victory at Oriel Park. Byrne opened the scoring on 40 minutes after he was brought down inside the area. He added a second with 15 minutes remaining to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
Dundalk had the first attack in the opening seconds when Robert Waters caught sight of goal but he shot across goal. Dundalk did have the better of the opening exchanges with Michael Rafter shooting just wide of goal from distance. The opening was in general poor but Bray Wanderers began to get a foothold in the game and started to press.
Adam Hanlon shot just wide from 20 yards before they forced the first corner of the game. Dundalk had two penalty shouts turned down before Bray should have opened the scoring. After winning a free-kick in the left corner, Kieran Marty Waters played a wonderful ball into the box which was met by Jason Byrne but his header went inches wide.
Bray did open the scoring on 40 minutes. Dundalk failed to clear a long ball down field and Byrne latched onto it. He took the ball past Chris Shields who brought the Bray front man just inside the box. Referee Paul Tuite had no option but to point to the spot. Byrne himself took the penalty and duly slotted home to give the Seagulls the lead.
Dundalk almost equalised moments later when a scramble in the box almost forced the ball home but it was easily gathered by Bray 'keeper Darren Quigley. Bray held on comfortably to lead 1-0 at the break.
Bray had several chances to double their lead just after half-time. First John Mulroy headed over from a good cross. Byrne's powerful shot was saved by Cherrie and then Danny O'Connor had a goal disallowed for offside.
Dundalk had their best chance of the game just past the hour mark when Michael Rafter found space and rifled his shot off the post. Minutes later, Gareth Coughlan was brought down on the edge of the area. Eoghan Osborne took the free but hit straight at Quigley. It looked like Dundalk were improving however their spell was short lived as Bray scored their second moments later.
Kieran Marty Waters went on a darting run from the left wing and made his way into the box. The Dundalk defence couldn't handle him and he was duly brought down. Referee Tuite once again no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Up stepped Byrne once again as he doubled his tally to give The Seagulls a two goal advantage.
This signalled the end of the match as a contest with Bray keen to see the match out. They had one final chance in injury time to add to their tally as Mulroy's shot was well saved by Peter Cherrie. That would be the final action as Bray closed out a good victory at Oriel Park in the process earning their third victory in a row.
Dundalk (4-4-2): Peter Cherrie; John Mountney, Derek Foran, Chris Shields, Eoghan Osborne; Paul Walsh (Gareth Coughlan 46), Stephen McDonnell, Robert Waters (Peter Thomas 82), Gary Shanahan (Mark Griffin 74); Michael Rafter, Shane O'Neill.
Subs Not Used: Ger Hanley(GK), Ben McLaughlin, Chris Reilly, Gerard McSorley.
Bookings: Foran (30).
Bray Wanderers (4-4-2): Darren Quigley; David Webster, Dane Massey (Sean Houston 25), Kevin Knight, Pierce Sweeney; Adam Hanlon, Dean Zambra, Danny O'Connor, Kieran Marty Waters; Jason Byrne, John Mulroy.
Subs Not Used: Brian Kane (GK), Daire Doyle, Anthony Bolger, Graham Kelly, Jonathan Kelly, Adam Mitchell.
Bookings: Massey (10), Mulroy (41), Webster (75), Houston (86).
Referee: Paul Tuite.
Attendance: 700 (Estimate)
extratime.ie man of the match: Jason Byrne - Outstanding all night. He caused Dundalk all sorts of problems and was an attacking threat all evening.
