Bray Wanderers 2 - 1 Longford Town

• Finbarr O'Sullivan
• Wed, Sep 16 2009


Bray Wanderers scraped through to the FAI Ford Cup semi-finals after fighting off a valiant Longford Town in a close encounter at the Carlisle Grounds. The final score was 2-1 to the hosts, with both their goals coming in the first half. Longford's reply came in second-half injury time.

Longford had the majority of the ball in the early stages, so it was slightly against the run of play when, in the 13th minute, the hosts took the lead. Dane Massey's corner from the right sailed through the box and was collected on the far side by Derek Foran. He sent the ball back into the area and it landed at the far post where, sliding in, Dave Mulcahy got to the goal-line and pulled the ball back for John Flood who was six-yards out. Flood then cooly side-footed the ball into the roof of the net.

Only a minute earlier, Wanderers could have taken the lead through Massey. Foran's long ball released Gary McCabe down the right who picked up the ball outside the box. His pass into the area missed John Flood but found Stephen Brennan. Brennan controlled but, with no shooting options, he laid the ball off to the left for the in-rushing Massey. Massey's let-foot strike seemed destined for the top corner but Danny O'Leary made a fine save to turn the ball over for the corner which Bray went on to score from.

The Seagulls were quick to seize their advantage and doubled the lead in the 26th minute through Chris Shields. Gary McCabe chested down a Longford clearance twenty-yards out and laid it back to Shields, who fired a first-time right-footed drive that flew into the top-right corner past a helpless O'Leary.

Town had a glorious chance to pull one back right before half-time. Stephen Gough played the ball in behind the defence for Tom King. He ran down to the goal-line and then hit the ball across the face of goal. Adrian Murphy arrived unmarked at the far post and from inside the six-yard box, he somehow managed to knock the ball over the crossbar when it seemed easier to score.

Bray relaxed in the second half and Longford began to get more of the ball and slowly began to create chances for them to get back into the game.

On 53 minutes, Longford tested Chris O'Connor through Adrian Murphy. Gough's corner from the left was knocked down by Brian McCarthy and, as the Bray defence struggled to clear, Murphy pounced and fired a fierce shot at goal, only for it to be brilliantly saved by O'Connor at close range.

Gareth Cronin's men then twice went close in the space of a minute. With a quarter of an hour to go, a cross from the right was met by the head of sub Derek Glynn and his header struck the crossbar and went back out into play. The ball was kept alive, though, through Adrian Murphy who hooked it into Liam Lynch on the penalty spot. His low drive was on target, but blocked by a mixture of Dane Massey and the foot of the post.

In the 78th minute, Longford had another good chance. McCartney volleyed a cross in from the left which landed at the far post with Lynch. He struck the ball low and hard at goal but O'Connor expertly saved the effort.

Longford's hard work paid off and they were rewarded with the goal that their second-half display deserved. Unfortunately, when Glynn headed in McCartney's cross from the left, it was in the fifth minute of injury time and the referee blew the final whistle as soon as Bray kicked off again.

It was a thrilling cup tie for the fans and now Bray can look forward to a very real prospect of a final appearance. Longford shouldn't be too down-hearted by their performance, they were just unlucky not to finish one of their chances earlier in the game.

Bray Wanderers (4-4-2): Chris O'Connor; Daire Doyle (Gareth Coughlan, 83), Dave Mulcahy, Derek Foran (Chris Deans, 67), Derek Pender; Gary McCabe, Stephen Brennan, Chris Shields, Dane Massey; Jake Kelly (John Mulroy, 88), John Flood.
Subs not used: Shane O'Neill, Dave Webster, Dave O'Neill, Brian Kane.
Bookings: Derek Foran (51), Jake Kelly (59), Derek Pender (68), Gary McCabe (90+2).

Longford Town (4-5-1):
Danny O'Leary; Ray Kenny, Brian McCarthy, Kevin Cronin, Jason McCartney; Tom King, Colm Jinks (Garry Curran, 67), Stephen Gough, Michael Lee (Derek Glynn, 58); Adrian Murphy, Liam Lynch.
Subs not used: Carmine Russo, Dean Clarke, Aaron Shanahan, Shane O'Brien.
Bookings: None.


Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Derek Foran - the Bray defender created one goal and had a good game in the defence

Referee: Derek Tomney (Dublin).

Attendance: 300 (estimate).