- Aisling Hannon
- Fri, Mar 24 2023
Bray Wanderers remain unbeaten in the league this season following a dramatic 3-2 win over Wexford at the Carlisle Grounds on Friday night.
The Seagulls now have 12 points from a possible 18 – their best start to a league season since the 1995/96 season and sit second in the table.
Goals from Cole Omorehioman and a Ben Feeney brace gifted Bray the three points, after Wexford tried their best to spoil the party with Aaron Dobbs and Ethan Boyle on target for the visitors.
Five of Bray’s starting XI were part of the Wexford squad last season, with a further three on the bench, as former Wexford boss Ian Ryan made three changes to the side that drew 2-2 with Waterford last week.
Ger Shortt, Len O’Sullivan and Chris Lyons came into the side to face Wexford, who have never won at the Carlisle Grounds.
It was a first start of the season for both Danny Furlong and Corban Piper as injuries forced James Keddy into making some tactical changes to his line-up.
Conor Levingston, Kian Corbally, Aaron Robinson and Brandon McCann all remain sidelined, the latter scoring the winner in their 2-1 win over Kerry last week.
A rather frantic first-half saw both sides looking good on the attack, but also showed their exposure at the back.
The Seagulls were first off the mark after six minutes when Feeney slotted the ball cooly past Charlie Heffernan in the Wexford goal.
Wexford’s 2022 player of the season, Harry Groome, set it up after spotting his team-mate from distance, and played a long ball up towards the box where Feeney met it with ease and produced a composed finish into the bottom right.
The visitors didn’t have the numbers at the back to defend, but equalised just three minutes later when Dobbs tapped in a goal from close range.
It was Furlong who initially tried to shoot from distance but goalkeeper Alex Moody got a strong palm to the attempt, leaving the ball falling to Dobbs who was waiting unmarked and pounced on the opportunity to level the score.
Both teams continued to threat, and it was Wexford who went ahead with almost half an hour played.
James Crawford whipped in a corner kick, and although there was a scramble at the far post, it looked like the ball got the slightest nick off the head of skipper Ethan Boyle.
Bray looked a little shaken but composed themselves in time to make it level going into the break.
With just five minutes left on the clock, it was Groome again who showed fantastic vision to see Feeney on his own up front and played a long, low ball up the pitch to meet his team-mate.
Feeney then slotted the ball between the legs of Heffernan and into the net, with no Wexford defenders visible to block the attempt, and the Seagulls went into the break sighing with relief.
The second-half started as hectic as the first, but only one goal separated the two in the end.
The Slaneysiders had many chances throughout the half, bringing on Jordan Adeyemo just past the hour mark to try and shake things up, but the playmaker couldn’t produce a finish, despite many efforts.
Bray had their fair share of chances too, with Joe Power hitting the post following a long range attempt, but it was Omorehiomwan who made the difference with 20 minutes on the clock.
Max Murphy, who scored a screamer in last weekend’s draw at the RSC, played a high ball in across goal to meet Feeney on the far post.
The hat-trick was denied but he can claim the assist, as he tapped it across to Omorehiomwan in the middle who slotted it past Heffernan.
Bray slowed down the pace in the final ten minutes and the visitors were unable to break them down.
Wexford remain sixth in the league and will welcome Treaty United to Ferrycarrig Park next Friday, while Bray make the long trip to Cobh in an attempt to make it seven league games unbeaten.
Bray Wanderers: Alex Moody; Luka Lovic, Dane Massey, Cole Omorehiomwan, Len O'Sullivan (Eoin Farrell 29); Ben Feeney, Harry Groome, Max Murphy, Joe Power (Conor Crowley 75); Chris Lyons (Jake Walker 81), Ger Shortt (Conor Davis 76
Subs not used: Stephen McGuinness, Jack Hudson, Zach Donohue, Callum Thompson, Guillemo Almirral
Booked: Ian Ryan (manager) (58).
Wexford: Noel Heffernan; Ethan Boyle, Karl Chambers (Jordan Tallon 80), Hugh Douglas, Darragh Levingston; James Crawford, Mark Hanratty, Corban Piper; Aaron Dobbs (Sean Fitzpatrick 80), Aaron Doran (Kaylem Harnett 67), Danny Furlong (Jordan Adeyemo 66).
Subs not used: Colm Cox, Ben Lynch, Matthew Dunne.
Booked: Aaron Doran (55), Darragh Levingston (58).
Referee: Gavin Colfer.
Attendance: 833.
extratime.com Player of the Match: Ben Feeney (Bray Wanderers).
