Bray Wanderers 1
Cork City 3
Daniel Gorman reports from the Carlisle Grounds
CORK CITY BARELY broke sweat as they made it eight goals in five days to keep the pressure on Dundalk.
A Karl Sheppard brace either side of a Garry Buckley header in the first halfensured that the Leesiders earned three points at the Carlisle Grounds. Gary McCabe restored some pride with Bray with an excellent free kick on 65 minutes.
City hit the front after 12 minutes. Sheppard collected the ball on the left flank and turned Rhys Gorman inside out several times before lashing a shot across the face of goal and into the far corner.
Garry Buckley was agonisingly close to doubling the lead but was denied by the crossbar in the 20th minute with Moran beaten.
He wasn’t to be denied on the half hour mark though as he rose unchallenged to power home McNamee’s corner.
On 36 minutes, Moran would see his goal-kick returned with interest by the head of Damien Delaney and it would set Sheppard through. He kept his cool to finish.
Sheppard should have wrapped up the hat-trick before the break when Buckley chipped a cross in from the right but the attacker smashed his volley over.
Sean McLoughlin missed a sitter to extend the lead as he spurned a free header from another McNamee delivery.
Buckley was next to spare Bray’s blushes. Sheppard breezed past Conor Kenna and stood a cross up to the back stick where Buckley was waiting but the attacking midfielder couldn’t generate the power on his header to beat Moran.
A piece of brilliance from Garry Buckley almost lead to a goal for Cummins on 62 minutes. Shane Griffin pushed the ball forward towards Buckley but he dummied it and it cleared a path to goal for Cummins but his snapshot was turned behind by Moran.
Wanderers did reduce the deficit midway through the second period when Cabe gave Peter Cherrie absolutely no chance with a stunning effort that curled into the top left-hand corner.
BRAY WANDERERS: Evan Moran; Rhys Gorman (Dylan Hayes, 65), Conor Kenna, Sean Heaney; Sean Harding, Paul O’Conor, Darragh Noone (Darragh Gibbons, H/T), Kevin Lynch; Gary McCabe; Jake Ellis, Ger Pender (Cian Walsh, 72).
CORK CITY: Peter Cherrie; Steven Beattie, Damien Delaney, Sean McLoughlin, Shane Griffin (Johnny Dunleavy, 87); Conor McCormack (Kieran Sadlier, H/T), Jimmy Keohane; Barry McNamee, Garry Buckley (Shane Daly-Butz, 79), Karl Sheppard; Graham Cummins.
Referee: Paul McLaughlin.
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