- Andrew Dempsey
- Fri, Aug 30 2024
Andrew Dempsey reports from the Carlisle Grounds
Bray Wanderers were in Cruise control from the start as they put Treaty United to the sword with a thumping 5-0 victory at the Carlisle Grounds.
The damage was done in the first half with the Seagulls netting all five of their goals inside that madcap period, with Kieran Cruise scoring a hat-trick and Ben Feeney bagging a brace in a five-star display.
Crucially, the result leaves Treaty United 11 points off the playoffs with seven games left to play.
But for Bray, they are now in a strong position to seal a top-five berth for the first time since the 2021 season under Gary Cronin.
Coming into the game having won three of their previous four, Bray were unchanged from their 1-0 triumph over Athlone Town last weekend.
Treaty, however, made one swap from their most recent outing - a 3-1 loss at home to Wexford - with Oisin O’Reilly dropping out in place of Fionn Doherty.
But that mattered little as Bray broke the deadlock after just nine minutes.
And Feeney was the beneficiary as he netted following some good play down the right flank between Max Murphy and John O’Sullivan.
Murphy played in O’Sullivan who found Feeney charging into the box and he made no mistake when slotting the ball into the back of the net.
And the Seagulls doubled their advantage just four minutes later with Cruise scoring his first.
The former Shamrock Rovers youngster pounced on a lax pass back from Fionn Doherty to Evan O’Connor.
Cruise then composed himself before firing low into the bottom corner from 18 yards out.
The Dubliner doubled his tally and put the game beyond doubt in the 17th minute as he was found unmarked on the edge of the box following Murphy’s cross.
His effort, however, did take a deflection to deceive the Treaty United stopper but even so there was little he was likely going to be able to do to deny the hosts.
Cruise had a chance to make it 4-0 moments later before he was denied by Chambers, who then saw Feeney whistle an effort just wide of goal shortly after.
But Cruise did not have long to wait to complete his hat-trick as he scored his third eight minutes before the interval.
And he did so by once again meeting a cross from Murphy before cutting inside and beating Robbie Lynch with his trickery before shooting across the face of goal and firing past Chambers again.
Treaty were reduced to few attacks by virtue of their deficit but should have scored from a Lee J Lynch corner with namesake Robbie narrowly shooting over when the ball dropped to him.
Wanderers deservedly scored their fifth three minutes before the interval with Feeney on target this time.
The 20-year-old found space in the pocket and was picked out by an intricate pass from Cruise before shooting across Chambers and into the back of the net.
Incredibly, Bray scored five in the first half for the first time since a 1995 victory away to Monaghan United.
But they could not build on that during the second period as their record 7-1 league win over Cobh Ramblers in 1997 stood for the time being.
Although they did have chances to do so with Shane Griffin and Cristian Magerusan going close with free-kicks on the edge of the area.
And there was still time for Treaty United’s night to get more miserable at the end with substitute Colin Conroy - brought at half-time - dismissed after picking up two yellow cards inside just three minutes.
But this was all about Bray and their consolidation of a playoff spot which looks all but guaranteed with a seven-point lead on sixth-placed Finn Harps.
Treaty United will want to forget this one in a hurry.
Bray Wanderers:Jimmy Corcoran; Killian Cantwell, Max Murphy, Zach Nolan, Cole Omorehiomwan; Guillermo Almirall Peñalver, Harry Groome (Zayd Abada 75), John O'Sullivan (Shane Griffin 59); Darren Craven (Cristian Magerusan 79), Kieran Cruise (Conor Knight 59), Ben Feeney (Billy O'Neill 59).
Subs not used:Stephen McGuinness, Jamie Duggan, Josh McGlone, Callum Thompson.
Treaty United:Corey Chambers; Robbie Lynch (Christopher Horgan 46), Evan O'Connor (Mark Walsh 17), Ben O'Riordan; Stephen Christopher (Colin Conroy 46), Thomas Considine (Alec Byrne 46), Lee Devitt Molloy, Fionn Doherty, Steven Healy, Lee-J Lynch; Enda Curran (Yousef Mahdy 60).
Subs not used:Michael Dike, Oisín O'Reilly, David Tarmey.
Booked:Enda Curran (49), Colin Conroy (81), Colin Conroy (84), Alec Byrne (88).
Sent off:Colin Conroy (84).
Referee:Oliver Moran.
Attendance:541.
extratime.com Player of the Match: Kieran Cruise (Bray Wanderers).
