Bray Wanderers 1
Limerick FC 1
BRENDAN CLARKE PLAYED his part as Limerick FC edged a step closer to another season in the promised land.
Goalkeeper Clarke kept out a Gary McCabe penalty in the 73rd minute as the Shannonsiders inched another point towards safety.
Darragh Noone had given Bray Wanderers the lead against the run of play at the Carlisle Grounds after 38 minutes, but a stunning solo strike from Chiedozie Ogbene four minutes into the second period earned the visitors a share of the spoils.
It was the Wicklow club’s first league action since 18 August and they owed a debt to Peter Cherrie, who denied Tosi multiple times in the first period.
Wanderers drew first blood when McCabe worked it wide to Keith Buckley, whose deep cross was emphatically dispatched by Noone’s powerful header.
The leveller should go straight onto the shortlist for goal of the season. Ogbene beat Moore for pace down the right flank, cut inside and shimmied past Kenna, danced away from Tim Clancy next and kept his composure to stroke it beyond Cherrie.
In what was a very open game, both sides were eager to press for a winner and McCabe will feel he should have notched it with 17 minutes to play. He was felled by Barry Cotter, but his goal drought continued, as Clarke superbly denied him.
Limerick’s cushion on the bottom three has now been reduced to three points, with Galway United triumphing over Derry City tonight.
Bray Wanderers: Peter Cherrie; Keith Buckley, Tim Clancy, Conor Kenna, Karl Moore (Jake Ellis, 83); John Sullivan, Darragh Noone (Hugh Douglas, 78); Ryan Brennan, Gary McCabe, Jason Marks (Kevin Lynch, 74); Aaron Greene.
Limerick FC: Brendan Clarke; Barry Cotter, Tony Whitehead, David O’Connor, Shane Tracy; Bastien Hery; Stephen Kenny (Dean Clarke, 74), Shane Duggan, Lee J Lynch (John O’Flynn, 62), Chiedozie Ogbene; Rodrigo Tosi.
Referee: Paul McLaughlin.
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