Shamrock Rovers 1 - 0 Bray Wanderers

• Daire Walsh
• Sat, Apr 24 2010


A goal on 36 minutes from Gary Twigg gave Shamrock Rovers their third league win of the campaign after a patchy but effective display against Bray Wanderers in the Tallaght Stadium on Friday evening.

Right from the word go, Rovers were by far the dominant team and it was clear that Eddie Gormley's side had set out their stall to defend. When you take into account the way that St. Pat's opened them up in the Carlisle Grounds on Tuesday evening, this would seem to be a more than sensible approach from the Wicklow men and, to a certain degree, they made life difficult for the home side.

Right-winger Billy Dennehy, a constant threat throughout, shot just over from a tight angle after four minutes, but there weren't a great deal of opportunities for Rovers in the opening quarter and it wasn't until the 17th minute that they really threatened the Bray goal again.

On this occasion, a well-worked free-kick by Ollie Cahill found its way to the returning Twigg in space, who controlled the ball perfectly but dragged his shot just wide of the far post to let the stranded Brian Kane off the hook. This really should have given The Hoops the lead, but you could sense that more chances would come their way, with Twigg looking especially lively in and around the penalty area.

Bray were competing extremely well though, with Mark O'Brien bringing much needed bite to the Bray midfield. Try as they might however, they couldn't really press forward for any meaningful attacks and they were fortunate not to go behind with 25 minutes gone when a Twigg effort from another Cahill delivery was cleared off the line by former Rovers man David Tyrrell.

This was yet another let-off for The Seagulls, but Rovers would finally find the net with nine first-half minutes remaining as Twigg turned in a Dennehy cross from close-range after good build-up play from Chris Turner.

This was a lead that Rovers definitely deserved and they would take this one-goal lead with them into the second half. Had The Hoops failed to score before half-time, then there may have been a few anxious moments for the Tallaght men going into the second, but instead they could go into it with some of the pressure taken off their shoulders.

Their first opportunity to extend the lead after the interval came five minutes in when a mis-hit shot from striker Thomas Stewart found its way to Dennehy whose shot from 12 yards was well saved by Kane in the Bray goal, before Twigg's subsequent header went away from danger.

This seemed like a very ominous sign for Bray, but Rovers did take their foot off the pedal for a while after this, and there was always a chance that they could be caught on the break if they rested too much on their laurels.

However, Bray's chances of getting anything from this game were dealt a serious blow on 67 minutes when O'Brien was given a straight red-card for a studs high challenge on substitute Stephen Rice. This dismissal seemed a bit harsh as the tenacious O'Brien actually won the ball, but it looked like a reckless enough tackle nonetheless.

Rovers would then have a Stewart strike ruled out for offside on 78 minutes, and James Chambers also went close from distance seven minutes later, but Twigg's goal was enough to give them the three points in the end.

Shamrock Rovers: Mannus; Murphy, Price, Murray, Flynn; Dennehy, Turner, Chambers, Cahill (Rice '64); Stewart (Barrett '80), Twigg (Baker '72).
Subs not used: Duggan, Stevens.

Bray Wanderers: Kane, D Doyle, Massey, O'Connor, Webster; Shields, Zambra, O'Brien, Rodrgiuez (Kelly '79); R Doyle (Mulroy '73), Tyrrell (O'Neill '85).
Subs not used: Donnelly, Kavanagh.

Referee: R Winter.
Attendance: n/a.
Extratime Man Of The Match: Chris Turner (Shamrock Rovers).