Galway United 1
Bray Wanderers 2
Daragh Small reports from Eamonn Deacy Park
MARK SALMON SCORED and Bray Wanderers kept up the pressure on second placed Dundalk in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division with victory over lowly Galway United at Eamonn Deacy Park.
Bray remain third in the table but after back-to-back league wins they are hot on the tails of the reigning champions while Galway are deep in the relegation zone.
Stephen Folan secured a 1-1 draw for Galway away to rivals Sligo Rovers last weekend and despite his late header they couldn’t even salvage a point this time around after trailing 2-0 at half-time.
It was a bright opening from the hosts and Ronan Murray went close in the fifth minute but Ryan Brennan was through one-on-one with Conor Winn and should have scored Bray’s first goal moments later.
There were three former Galway players in the Bray starting line-up and one of those, Anto Flood, gave the visitors the lead in the 18th minute — Murray should have cleared the ball but Gary McCabe crossed and the experienced forward headed home at the back post.
Conor Kenna had a goal disallowed when he was adjudged to be offside two minutes later, but in the 27th minute, Bray doubled their lead.
Keith Buckley made a great run down the right and his cross was met on the run by Salmon, who finished emphatically.
Bray were 2-0 up and comfortable at the interval and despite a couple of misses from Padraic Cunningham, Galway pulled one back when Folan scored from a free-header with 12 minutes remaining, but it was too late.
Galway United: Conor Winn; Colm Horgan, Lee Grace, Stephen Folan, Gary Kineen; Gary Shanahan (Conor Melody ’76), Gavan Holohan, David Cawley, Ronan Murray; Padraic Cunningham (Vinny Faherty ’75), Eoin McCormack (Kevin Devaney ’69).
Bray Wanderers: Peter Cherrie; Keith Buckley, Hugh Douglas, Conor Kenna, Kevin Lynch; Ryan Brennan, Mark Salmon, John Sullivan, Aaron Greene; Anto Flood (Dylan Connolly ’68), Gary McCabe (Jason Marks ’84).
Referee: Paul Tuite (Dublin).
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
