Bray Wanderers AFC -v- Shamrock Rovers FC

• Finbarr O'Sullivan
• Thu, Mar 05 2009


Bray Wanderers begin their 2009 campaign by welcoming Shamrock Rovers to the Carlisle Grounds on Friday night (kick-off 7.45pm).

Close season recruits
There has been a lot of changes at Bray over the winter and many new faces could be in line for a debut against the Hoops. Daire Doyle, Paul Byrne, Stephen Brennan, and Dave Mulcahy are some of the signings that will be sure to feature, while Chris Deans, who returned to the club after a spell with Sporting Fingal, is also expected to partake.

Bray braced
Manager Eddie Gormley is excited to get the season underway and is full of optimism. “I realise it will be a difficult season for us and other sides," he said, "but I’m looking forward to getting the ball rolling. I am happy that I have an honest bunch of players who will give me 100 percent."

Consistency the key
"If we can get good performances week in, week out, we should be OK," Gormley added. "It’s a nice game to start off with. There should be a big crowd and a good atmosphere and everybody here is looking forward to it.” Bray’s pre-season form has been mixed. After beating Shelbourne 3-1, they drew twice, 1-1 with UCD and 0-0 with Sporting Fingal, before losing 1-0 to Garda last Tuesday.

O'Neill bow
Friday's game will be Michael O'Neill's first competitive match in charge since taking over at Rovers after leaving Scottish side Brechin City in December. However, he has concerns after Rovers' pre-season did not run smoothly. "The players came back in early January so we’ve had a long pre-season, but thanks to the weather it was a difficult one," O'Neill said. "The conditions weren’t great and we had to play mostly on astroturf.

'Toothaches'
"Then we had friendly games called off and tried to reschedule them," he added. "Also, we had to cope with not having the stadium in Tallaght ready. They were all toothaches, but we’ll get on with it. On the positive side, we felt that the squad needed strengthening in certain areas and we’ve managed to achieve that. Now the players are very keen to get going - we’re in a fit and confident mood.”

'Psyched up'
Looking ahead to the trip to the Seaside town, O'Neill said: "I watched Bray last Saturday and we know that it’s always a tough game out there. They’re a young side and Eddie Gormley will have them psyched up for this. It’s a big game. They’ll make it hard and difficult for us and it’s bound to be a very competitive game. We’ll certainly be at them from the word go - that’s what we’ve been telling the players to do all week."

Almost identical
Rovers pre-season form was almost identical to Bray’s as they recorded two wins, two draws and one defeat from five games. After losing 4-2 to Newry City, Rovers went unbeaten against UCD, Wexford Youths, Glebe North and Athlone Town. The Hoops got the better of Glebe and Athlone, winning 1-0 and 3-0 respectively, while drawing 1-1 with both UCD and Wexford.

Recent meetings
Last season, these sides played each other four times. Rovers won the first league clash 2-0 in March at Tolka Park, before Bray beat Rovers twice at the Carlisle Grounds in May; once in the league and once in the cup. The scoreline on both occasions was 1-0. The final league meeting, at Tolka in October, saw Bray come back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2.

Team news
Bray go into this game with no injury worries. O'Neill, on the other hand, has concerns over Darragh Maguire and new signing Greg Cameron. Maguire only resumed training this week while Cameron is doubtful with a groin problem.