FAI Cup Preview: Bohemians -v- Bray Wanderers

• Macdara Ferris
• Thu, Aug 20 2015




BOHEMIANS

It is seven years since seven times FAI Cup winners Bohemians last claimed the trophy. If they are to add an eighth cup victory, they must take the next step and reach the last eight by overcoming Bray Wanderers at Dalymount Park on Friday Night (kick off 7.45pm) in the Third Round of the Irish Daily Mail FAI Senior Cup.

 

This is the fifth time this season the sides have met but Bohs have yet to get a win. When they played each other in their opening competitive game of the year back in February, Bohs did progress past Bray in the Leinster Senior Cup but only on penalties after a dour 0-0 draw in Dalymount. Since then the Seagulls have won all three league games between the sides, the latest victory coming last Monday when the Seagulls won 3-1 in the Carlisle Grounds.

 

Bohs boss Keith Long rested Derek Prendergast, Anto Murphy and Keith Buckley for that league game but they are all likely to return for this FAI Cup fixture. “We had one eye on Friday but, as it turned out, we didn’t get the result or the performance that I would have liked,” was Long’s assessment of his side’s last defeat to the Wicklow team. “It gives us a sharp reminder that Bray are in a good run of form.

 

“We have as many points now as the team accumulated over the whole of last season. The logic of what we did on Monday was to make sure we were right for Friday. Only going through to the next round will justify that and, hopefully, we will be proven correct.”

 

Long paid tribute to the Bray players for battling hard this season where there has been a multitude of managerial changes. “You’ve got to give the Bray players huge credit. They work extremely hard and we won’t take them lightly. We didn’t do so on Monday. I wasn’t surprised at Bray’s performance, but I was disappointed with our own.

 

"I would expect our players to give a good account of themselves because they know how important this game is to us as a group and to the club in general. The players will need no extra motivation and that’s going to be a big factor on Friday. I feel it will come down to which team that shows greater desire and I hope that will be us.”

 

Long will have Karl Moore available to him after the midfielder missed Monday’s game through illness. Eoin Wearan and Robbie Creevy picked up injuries last time out and have been omitted from the Gypsies squad. Along with long-term injured, Derek Pender, Marc Griffin and Dan Byrne, Bohs will also be without Jake Kelly who is cup-tied.

 

 

BRAY WANDERERS

Last Monday Bray broke away from their binary set of results they had gathered from their previous 11 games (six 1-0 wins, four 1-0 losses and one 0-0 draw). Their 3-1 league victory over Bohs was their first win over the Gypsies this season having drawn 0-0 and lost 1-0 in their previous two meetings.

 

Having been knocked out of the Leinster Senior Cup at Dalymount Park by Bohs earlier in the season, they will be hoping to dump the Gypsies out of the Blue Riband Cup competition on Friday.

 

Bray have won six of their eight league games since the summer break, which is a remarkable state of affairs given the off-field distractions surrounding the club this season which has seen the club have three different full-time managers in addition to some interim caretakers. Mick Cooke is the latest man in the hot-seat and has three wins and two defeats from his five league games in charge to date.

 

Referee: Graham Kelly

 

 

MATCH STATS

Bray Wanderers who have won the FAI Cup twice compared with Bohemians’ seven FAI Cup victories over the years. The Seagulls’ 1990 win was the first by a First Division side (Sligo and Sporting Fingal subsequently have also managed this feat). They were also the first side to win the Cup and be relegated in the same season (1999). The only other team that managed that unenviable feat was Dundalk in 2002.

 

Bohemians and Bray have already met four times this season, as they did in 2014 and 2013. In those 12 matches across three different competitions, Bohemians have won eight while Bray’s last win in Dalymount Park was in October 2013.

 

Adam Evans is the Bohs top scorer with five league goals (along with Dean Kelly who is now with Longford). David Cassidy is the top goalscorer for the Seagulls also with five goals.

 

 

BETTING

Bohemians 5/6; Draw 23/10; Bray Wanderers 7/2.

 

PREDICTION

Bohemian 1-0 Bray Wanderers.

 

 

Bohemians

Injured: Robbie Creevy (knee), Eoin Wearen, Derek Pender, Marc Griffin and Dan Byrne

Cup tied: Jake Kelly.

Suspended: None.

 

Bray Wanderers

Injured: None.

Doubtful: None.

Suspended: None.

Cup-tied: John Sullivan.