Bray Wanderers 1
Shamrock Rovers 0
Daniel Gorman reports from the Carlisle Grounds
AT THE 11TH time of asking, Bray Wanderers collected their first victory of the season and it came at Shamrock Rovers’ expense.
Ronan Coughlan landed the decisive blow against the 10-man Hoops in the 53rd minute as he seized on a poor back-pass from Ronan Finn and calmly slid the ball beneath Kevin Horgan.
The rescue mission for Rovers became almost impossible when they suffered a self-inflicted wound when Dan Carr collected a second yellow on 64 — both cards appeared to have been borne out of frustration.
A minute before the half-hour mark, a goalkeeper finally had a save to make. Graham Burke was felled 25 yards from goal and Miele’s powerful strike was definitely on target. Dillon got a strong hand behind it to push the ball away as he flew to his right.
It could have been a positive end to the first half for the Hoops as Graham Burke’s corner found right-back Ethan Boyle in space but he powered his header the wrong side of Dillon’s post.
On 48 minutes, Dan Carr caught Conor Kenna late and picked up a booking that he would later regret.
The travelling fans were stunned into silence on 63 minutes as the Seagulls hit the front. Captain Ronan Finn’s backpass was never going to find Horgan and Coughlan glided onto it and ever so calmly slid it beneath Horgan to give Bray an unexpected league.
Coughlan could have orchestrated a second goal for Bray within a minute, as the hosts broke three-on-two, but his pass failed to find its mark and Rovers got off the hook.
A switch in formation was then implemented by Bradley, as he opted for 4-4-2, but it lasted only eight minutes, as Carr’s petulant trip on Gorman saw him receive his marching orders on another miserable evening for Hoops fans. Boos rang out at the final whistle from the travelling support that had bothered to see the game out.
BRAY WANDERERS: Aaron Dillon; Dan McKenna, Hugh Douglas, Conor Kenna, Kevin Lynch; Paul O’Conor, Rhys Gorman; Ronan Coughlan, Gary McCabe, Cory Galvin (Jake Kelly, 89); Aaron Greene (Daniel Kelly, 26).
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Kevin Horgan; Ethan Boyle, Lee Grace, Ally Gilchrist, Sean Kavanagh (Brandon Kavanagh, 72); Greg Bolger, Ronan Finn; Brandon Miele, Graham Burke, Joel Coustrain (Gary Shaw, 56); Dan Carr.
REFEREE: Tomas Connolly.
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