Bray Wanderers AFC -v- Saint Patrick's Athletic FC

• Finbarr O'Sullivan
• Thu, Apr 02 2009


Saint Patrick's Athletic will be out to extend their winning streak to four games and possibly take over at the top of the Premier Division when they meet Bray Wanderers, still searching for their first win of the campaign, at the Carlisle Grounds on Friday night (kick-off 7.45pm).

Victory run
The Seagulls' unbeaten start to the season came to an end last week when they lost 2-1 at Cork City. They had drawn their previous three games, against Shamrock Rovers, Drogheda United and Galway United. The Saints, on the other hand, have recovered brilliantly from their shock 3-0 defeat by Galway on the opening night at Richmond Park and have gone on a three-game winning run, beating Cork, Sligo Rovers and Dundalk in recent weeks.

'Difficult' task
Despite being beaten last time out, though, Wanderers manager Eddie Gormley is happy with how his young side played at Turner's Cross. "With all the injuries we had, we put out a very young side in Cork and, even though we were reduced to ten men after 20 minutes, they equipped themselves well and played some good football and created some good chances," he said, adding: "It will be difficult once again [against St. Pat's] but we have some players available again who missed out last week. The young players are gaining in confidence with each game and, if they can continue where they left off in Cork, we will be in with a chance."

Saints 'confident'
Saints boss Jeff Kenna has, understandably, been particularly happy with his side's mean defence as, as well as a fourth straight victory, they'll be chasing a fourth clean sheet on the bounce this weekend. "The clean sheets have been great because it's a fundamental part of building a winning side," he said. "If you don't concede it's more than half the battle and we'll be looking to keep that up. [Bray] is another difficult game but confidence is high and we're playing well. We've won two difficult games away from home and we'll be going there full of confidence."

Trio absent
Bray go into this fixture without the services of influential trio Patrick Kavanagh, Derek Pender and Daryl Robson. Kavanagh and Pender both miss out with ankle injuries while Robson is suspended after his sending-off in Cork last Friday. It's not all bad news for Gormley, though, as three players return. Chris Deans is back after work commitments kept him out of the trip to Leeside, while Derek Foran has recovered from tonsillitis and Darren Forsyth is back after bruising his ribs in Bray's last home outing, a 2-2 draw with Galway, a fortnight ago.

Double disaster
Pat's will be without both Gary Dempsey and Mark Leech for at least three months after they suffered broken legs in last weekend's 1-0 win at home to Dundalk. "It's a bitter blow losing the two lads," Kenna said. "The team have been picking up good results and both of them have been influential and will be missed. This is the reason we have a squad, though, and it's up to the other players who have been sitting on the bench to come in and stake their claim for a place in the team." Gareth O'Connor and Stephen Maher remain out through thigh and knee ligament injuries respectively. However, on a positive note, John Lester returns to the fold following suspension and Brendan Clarke could be back after returning to training this week following a broken foot.

extratime.ie prediction: Bray 0-1 St. Pat's.