- Extratime Team
- Sat, Mar 18 2023
The spoils were shared at the Waterford RSC following a two all draw between the hosts and Bray Wanderers. An early brace from Ronan Coughlan was cancelled out by efforts from Ben Feeney and Max Murphy as the home side played the final hour with ten men after Chris Conn-Clarke's dismissal.
Following last weekend’s scoreless draw with Longford Town, Bray Wanderers boss Ian Ryan made two changes to his starting lineup with both Luka Lovic and Ben Feeney earning their first starts of the campaign- Guillermo Almirall and Conor Davis the pair to lose out.
For Danny Searle’s outfit, the aftermath of a narrow victory over Athlone Town saw Chris Conn-Clarke and Roland Idowu called into the starting lineup at the expense of Wassim Aouachria and Thomas Oluwa.
The home side, with only a single league loss to their name this season so far, are one of the favourites for promotion to the Premier Division and they had the balance of play in the opening period, new signing Ryan Burke causing plenty of trouble down the left hand side.
After a couple of close calls, the ex Birmingham City defender did record an assist in the 20th minute- his cross was converted from close range by the poaching Ronan Coughlan, the striker veering dangerously close to being offside when finding the net- a point possibly made too vigorously to the officials by Seagulls boss Ian Ryan, who earned himself a yellow card in the aftermath.
There was no doubt about the authenticity of Coughlan’s second goal which arrived from the penalty spot a couple of moments later- a foul on Chris Conn-Clarke earning the spot kick. However, the Englishman himself departed the action less than ten minutes later- a second yellow card earning an early shower with two thirds of the game left to play.
Bray almost halved the deficit from a set piece soon after but Joe Power’s free kick cannoned off the bar and away to safety. However, the Wicklow outfit did breach the Waterford defence before the end of the opening half- Ben Feeney converting the rebound after Eddie Nolan’s block on a Max Murphy effort. Coughlan had the chance of a hat trick beforehand but his lobbed effort dropped narrowly wide.
Wanderers made a double change at the break, O’Sullivan and Shortt replacing Farrell and Crowley respectively, and almost added a second goal to their tally early in the second half only to be denied by a double save from Waterford goalkeeper Paul Martin and then Eddie Nolan.
The keeper thwarted Cole Omorehiomwan, who nodded a Power free kick goalwards, before Nolan denied the defender from the resultant corner kick. Omorehiomwan forced to wait a little longer for his third goal of the campaign, having netted a brace against Kerry FC earlier in the season.
The Seagulls bossed the possession stakes and earned four corners in the opening 25 minutes of the second period, however none really troubled a Blues rearguard which was regularly content to defend deep and play on the counter attack.
The pressure on the defence did eventually pay off though as a corner kick ended up at the feet of Max Murphy and the versatile full back crashed a long range effort beyond Paul Martin to tie up the scores with fifteen minutes left to play.
Tempers flared shortly after the goal with a trio of bookings following a Waterford foul in midfield- Roland Idowu and Max Murphy with yellow cards and Waterford boss Danny Searle receiving a red.
Despite Bray continuing to hold the balance of play, a trickled long range effort from skipper Dane Massey was the only effort on target from the visitors in the final twenty minutes. Indeed, it was Waterford who almost snatched a late winner in injury time as Shane Griffin’s placed effort crashed off the woodwork on a rare foray forward.
Despite being two nil down in the opening twenty minutes, it’s Bray Wanderers who will come away from the RSC with a tinge of disappointment at picking up a single point. However, having survived Waterford hitting the woodwork and failing to make the most of a four on two breakaway opportunity in injury time, they could also have been heading up the motorway without a result.
Waterford: Paul Martin; Ryan Burke, Eddie Nolan, Giles Phillips, Darragh Power; Barry Baggley (Tunmise Sobowale 59), Chris Conn-Clarke, Shane Griffin, Roland Idowu, Niall O'Keeffe; Ronan Coughlan (Thomas Oluwa 71).
Subs not used: Tom Donaghy, Killian Cantwell, Charles Ondo, Dean Larkin , Dean McMenamy, Connor Parsons, Wassim Aouachria.
Booked: Chris Conn-Clarke (23), Chris Conn-Clarke (28), Barry Baggley (52), Paul Martin (64), Roland Idowu (79), Giles Phillips (84), Niall O'Keeffe (90), Thomas Oluwa (90).
Sent off: Chris Conn-Clarke (28), Danny Searle (81).
Bray Wanderers: Alex Moody; Eoin Farrell (Len O'Sullivan 46), Dane Massey, Max Murphy, Cole Omorehiomwan; Conor Crowley (Ger Shortt 46), Ben Feeney, Harry Groome, Luka Lovic (Chris Lyons 66), Joe Power (Guillemo Almirral 89); Jake Walker (Conor Davis 89).
Subs not used: Stephen McGuinness, Jack Hudson, Conor Knight, Callum Thompson.
Booked: Ian Ryan (21), Cole Omorehiomwan (25), Max Murphy (79).
Sent off: None.
Referee:David Connolly
