Bray Wanderers 2
Bohemians 1
A FIFTH CONSECUTIVE league victory saw Bray Wanderers surge into the top six tonight.
Goals from Ger Pender and John Sullivan allowed the Seagulls to leapfrog Bohemians and move level on points in fifth spot despite a late rally from the visitors.
Pender only required four minutes to break the deadlock and a club record. A static Gypsies defence allowed him to run free and latch onto Kevin Lynch’s pass before stroking past Shane Supple to become the first Wanderers player to score in five consecutive top flight outings.
The pace of Dylan Connolly inevitably featured and it took the outstretched left leg of Supple to win a one-on-one battle after he had surged past the defence.
Connolly would grab an assist for Sullivan’s strike. Bray broke from a corner and the ex-Ipswich man got a lucky bounce of the ball against Pender before squaring for Sullivan to dispatch.
Bohemians were at times playing like a team with nothing left to chase but they sparked into life in the 81st minute as Kurtis Byrne found Keith Buckley to halve the arrears.
Keith Long’s side were lucky to have the full complement at that stage after Mark Quigley’s kick on Conor Kenna went unnoticed.
But the late wake-up call came too late as Wanderers survived to make it five wins in five.
Bray Wanderers: Peter Cherrie; Hugh Douglas (Sean Harding, 79), Tim Clancy, Conor Kenna, Kevin Lynch; John Sullivan; Jason Marks (Darragh Noone, 67), Karl Moore, Mark Salmon, Dylan Connolly; Ger Pender (Andrew Lewis, 70).
Bohemians: Shane Supple; Derek Pender, Derek Prendergast, Ian Morris, Lorcan Fitzgerald; Paddy Kavanagh, Keith Buckley, Roberto Lopes, Jake Kelly (Eoin Wearen, H/T); Kurtis Byrne; Dean O’Halloran (Mark Quigley, 68).
Referee: Robert Hennessey.