Sporting Fingal 4 - 2 Bray Wanderers

• Niall Farrell
• Sun, Oct 25 2009


Sporting Fingal will face Sligo Rovers in the FAI Ford Cup final, after their comprehensive 4-2 win over Bray Wanderers at the Morton Stadium today.

It didn't take Fingal long to get out of the traps today as they opened the scoring after just three minutes. Eamon Zayed finished well from an Alan Kirby cross after Bray were caught napping on the break.

Sporting kept piling the pressure on and never looked likely to cede possession to the Seagulls. In the 10th minute, Eamon Zayed scored again, this time tapping in from close range. Bray goalkeeper Chris O'Connor could only parry Conan Byrne's shot after Fingal's top scorer made a dangerous run into the penalty area. After the resulting goalmouth melee, Zayed was at hand to grab his second of the evening against his former team.

The Bray Wanderers defence looked all at sea at times as they struggled to deal with Sporting's attacking pace. Conan Byrne nearly made it 3-0 after another darting run in the 13th minute, but it was to be Alan Kirby who would get the third goal for Fingal nine minutes later. The midfielder netted from a tap-in after Eamon Zayed passed the ball to Robert Bayly, who in turn played Kirby in on goal.

Bray then seemed to be able to hold Fingal off a bit better, but couldn't keep the ball in the Fingal third of the pitch. As a result the ball became mired in midfield for the rest of the second half. Dane Massey had Bray's first shot on goal in the 42nd minute, as Chris Konopka was forced to parry the ball behind his goal after what looked like an intended cross.

Half time saw Bray make two changes to their team, as Gary McCabe and Gareth Coughlan came on, replacing Daire Doyle and Stephen Brennan. The second half had a crappy opening, with yellow cards being doled out to Bray's Dave Mulcahy and Fingal's Colm James.

Bray began to edge their way back into the match and Paul Byrne was unlucky not to score after 72 minutes when his headed ball went just wide of the Sporting Fingal upright. As Bray searched for a goal, they finally started to keep the ball out of their own half. In the 74th minute a free kick was won just outside the Fingal penalty area and magnificently converted by Gary McCabe.

In the 81st minute, any slim chance Bray have had of forcing a replay was effectively ended with the sending off of ex-Fingal man Chris Deans for a high tackle on Robbie Doyle. Just three minutes later, Sporting's Robert Bayly finished the Seagulls off with a sublime finish. Eric Foley's deft flick was latched on to by Bayly and finished with a delicate volley. A late error in the 92nd minute allowed John Mulroy to grab a consolation goal for Bray, but it was to be Fingal's day.

Sporting Fingal: Chris Konopka; John Frost, Colm James, Shaun Maher, Shaun Williams(Doyle '75); Robert Bayly, Conan Byrne, Alan Kirby (Foley '64), Stephen Paisley (Whelan '54); Shane McFaul ,Eamon Zayed. Unused Subs: Daniel Corcoran, Brian Gannon, Fiachra McArdle

Bray Wanderers: Chris O'Connor; Chris Deans, Daire Doyle (Coughlan '45), Derek Foran, Colm Tresson; Stephen Brennan (McCabe '45), Jake Kelly (Mulroy '53), Dane Massey, David Mulcahy; Paul Byrne, Chris Shields. Unused Subs: Gary Cronin, Brian Kane, John Flood

Referee: Alan Kelly

Attendance: 894

extratime.ie Man of The Match: Eamon Zayed. Scorer of two goals and creator of another, Zayed has staked for a regular sport in the Fingal starting XI.