Bray Wanderers -v- UCD

• Simon O'Gorman
• Thu, May 06 2010


Bray Wanderers face UCD at the Carlisle Grounds on Friday night in a game that many would have marked out as a relegation six pointer at the start of the season. UCD, however, have confounded the pessimists, making an impressive start to life in the Premier Division and it is Bray who must do some confounding on Friday night if they are to avoid a tenth defeat of the season. (Kick-off 7.45pm)

Bray fans will probably feel that their 3-2 win against Dundalk two weeks ago is already slipping away towards the land of false dawns. Two league defeats followed and it will be a difficult task for Eddie Gormley to keep his players in a positive frame of mind. Speaking about last week’s 1-0 defeat at Sporting Fingal the Bray boss said, "We worked hard and I think we deserved something out of the game. In the second half I felt there was only one team going to score and we did hit the crossbar. We need to get some consistency in our game to give ourselves the opportunity to win games".

Chief among the up-sides were the performance of Ian Tuohy and the return of Jake Kelly and the defeat against Galway last Friday also had its positives with David O’Neill and Adam O’Connor standing out.

For the UCD game Gormley will be able to call on Richie Baker (hamstring), Shane O'Neill (hip), and John Mulroy (calf), all of whom missed Brays last two outings. Along with the presence of experienced players such as Colm Tresson, Dave Webster and Robbie Doyle and the gutsy ability of Chris Shields and Dane Massey, there is surely no reason why Bray cannot be more competitive than their nine defeats in eleven league games suggests.

But the Carlisle faithful would be justified in asking when such an improvement is going to occur. They may find some cheer in the fact that UCD have not won away from home since the opening day of the season and that they will be without top scorer, Ciaran Kilduff, who suffered a minor concussion in Monday night’s win against St Pats. But the students will certainly be no pushover.

Despite the key loss of Ronan Finn over the winter, UCD have found a ready replacement in young Greg Bolger whose performances in front of the student’s back four have been a revelation. And while Ciaran Kilduff has been superb up front, his less vaunted partner, David McMillan, has been the perfect foil; hard working, selfless and skillful. In central midfield, Chris Mulhall, Paul Corry and Peter McMahon all contribute effectively and, at times, with imagination.

If Bray can point to youthful potential then so too can UCD. Dwayne Wilson has arrived on the scene with a bang and made a real impression on some of the league’s most experienced defenders.

Currently on a run of four unbeaten games and with only one defeat in the last seven, UCD are beginning to develop a strong sense of their own worth. And perhaps this will be the decisive factor on Friday night. ‘You can’t buy confidence’, is an old football saying, not that Eddie Gormley would have the funds for it if you could.



Bray Wanderers
Injured:Daire Doyle (foot); Dean Zambra (ankle).
Doubtful:None
Suspended:James Kavanagh.

UCD
Injured:Ciaran Kilduff.
Doubtful:None.
Suspended:None.

Referee: D Mckeon

Extratime prediction: A 1-0 win for UCD