- Daire Walsh
- Sat, May 14 2011
Teenage sensation Conor Murphy was the hero for Bray Wanderers in the Carlisle Grounds last night, as his brace, the second coming in the 90th minute, helped to sink the challenge of Martin Russell's UCD, and subsequently open a seven-point gap between the two sides in the Airtricity Premier Division table.
UCD opted for a 4-5-1 formation for the trip to the North Wicklow venue, which saw Graham Rusk (who usually operates in a central striking position) lining up on the left-side of midfield, while Samir Belhout was tasked with leading the attack on his own.
In the opening few minutes, this set-up seemed to be working quite well as the Students were enjoying the majority of the possession, and Rusk was giving Bray right-back Shane O'Connor plenty to think about. However, despite this bright start to the game, it was Bray who ultimately drew first blood on eight minutes in a move that started with Dane Massey intercepting a pass inside his own half.
The energetic left-back then played a neat one-two with Jake Kelly on his wing, before delivering a telling cross into the area, which UCD full-back Sean Russell was unable to deal with, and Murphy was on hand to finish to the back of the net from a few yards out.
Bray have made a habit of taking early leads at home in the league this season, and they almost doubled their lead on 16 minutes when Danny O'Connor rose to meet a corner from Gary Dempsey, but his header was just over the bar.
But UCD were gradually regaining their focus and they were back on level terms 20 minutes in when Dean Marshall finished a penalty to the bottom left-hand corner of the Bray goal, via the fingertips of Bray 'keeper Matt Gregg, after Dempsey had jumped onto his back inside the area.
This equaliser did wonders for the confidence of the visitors, and they almost took the lead four minutes later when Gregg stumbled trying to pick up the ball inside the box and Belhout was quick to react. But his initial shot on goal was blocked on the line by Bray defender Adam Mitchell, and his second attempt was well off target.
After a frantic and rather compelling opening 25 minutes the game did settle down somewhat, though UCD were undoubtedly the more dominant of the two side during the latter part of the opening half. Rusk went close to grabbing a goal on 39 minutes when he shot just wide of the posts following an excellent individual run, and Belhout also went near again from a Darren Meenan pull-back a minute into stoppage time, but Bray managed to hold out in time to go in on level terms at the mid-way interval.
Bray could certainly count themselves fortunate not to have gone in behind at the break, but they came out on the offensive upon the re-start, and were extremely unlucky not to take the lead two minutes into the half when Mitchell found himself in space following a Jake Kelly free from the right-wing, but the rangy centre-back didn't quite connect in the way he would have hoped, and his header went over the bar and away from danger.
Bray continued to press as the half wore on however, and substitute Daire Doyle (who replaced the injured Danny O'Connor towards the end of the opening period) shot just wide with a looping shot from distance. Chances were coming at a premium at this stage though, and it was looking more and more likely that the game would end in a stalemate. The final 20 minutes would belong to Bray though, and they had three excellent chances in quick succession between the 72nd and 74th minutes. First of all, UCD netminder Ger Barron stopped a Kelly shot with his feet, after the Bray No. 11 had turned smartly in the area, and then Shane O'Neill's bicycle kick on 73 minutes was blocked en route to goal by Doyle, who was similarly looking to guide the ball to the back of the net.
Finally, probably the best chance of the three arrived, as Dempsey got his head to a Zambra cross, but his effort on goal went off target to the left of the posts. The Wicklow men continued to dominate as the game entered the final ten minutes, but the outstanding Barron was proving to be a real thorn in their side as he pulled off saves from Kelly, Murphy and Dempsey when it looked like they were odds-on to score.
The way Barron was playing, he certainly didn't deserve to be on the losing side, but relentless pressure did eventually pay off, as Murphy finished from a tight angle on the right in the final minute following an excellent through ball by Doyle, to give Bray their sixth win of the season, which moves them up to fifth place in the table.
UCD will be disappointed to have lost this game, as a win would have cut the gap between themselves and Bray to just one point, but the losses suffered by Galway United and Drogheda United means they still have a considerable cushion over those at the rear end of the league.
Bray Wanderers: Matt Gregg; Shane O'Connor, Adam Mitchell, Derek Prendergast, Dane Massey (Joe Kendrick 66); Dean Zambra, Gary Dempsey, Danny O'Connor (Daire Doyle 45), Jake Kelly; Conor Murphy, Shane O'Neill (Dan McGuinness 73).
Subs not used: Stephen Last, John Mulroy, Graham Kelly, Brian Kane.
Bookings: Massey (36).
UCD: Ger Barron; Paul O'Conor, David O'Connor, Gavin Colton, Sean Russell (James Kavanagh 82); Dean Marshall, Darren Meenan, Paul Corry, Danny Ledwith, Graham Rusk (Ciaran Nangle 51); Samir Belhout (Stephen Doyle 64).
Subs not used: Sean Harding, Barry McCabe, Mark McGinley, Danny Fallon.
Bookings: Rusk (49), Colton (53).
Referee: Paul Tuite (Dublin).
Extra Time Man Of The Match: Conor Murphy (Bray Wanderers).
