Wexford 1-3 Bray Wanderers
BRAY WANDERERS LEFT it very late indeed but managed to turn tonight’s encounter with Wexford at Ferrycarrig Park on its head thanks to a penalty by Gary Shaw and further goals by Sean McEvoy and Darragh Lynch.
Wexford bossed proceedings for large spells of this one and took a deserved lead through Karl Fitzsimons’ strike inside 25 minutes.
The Seagulls, however, rallied in the final five minutes plus stoppage time to stage one of the most remarkable fightbacks of the season.
Shaw’s 86th-minute spotter was followed just a minute later by McEvoy’s header into the top corner from a sublime Callum Thompson cross, and the visitors put the cherry on top during the extras as Lynch rifled home from the edge of the area to ensure Bray left Wexford on top of the First Division table.
Their promotion rivals Drogheda United, Longford Town, UCD AFC and Cobh Ramblers all play tomorrow.
Cabinteely 1-1 Athlone Town
While Bray were turning a defeat into victory, another promotion-chasing side couldn’t quite separate themselves from the League of Ireland’s basement club.
Cabinteely fell three points behind the Wicklow men and remain third following a 1-1 home draw with Athlone, who remain winless in 11 league encounters this term but were full value for their point.
The visitors took the lead at Stradbrook on 27 minutes through a penalty by Ronan Manning only for Cabo to respond moments later, Christian Lotefa following in on a rebound from a Conor Keeley header which was saved by Town ‘keeper Aaron Myles.
Both sides fashioned a number of chances in the second half, the hosts being denied by goal-line clearances on a number of occasions as well as a late Myles save from Paul Fox.
But Athlone held on for their third point of the season as they put a minor dent in Cabinteely’s promotion plans.
Galway United 2-1 Shamrock Rovers II
John Caulfield maintained his perfect start to life as Galway United manager as the westerners fought hard against a technically superior Shamrock Rovers II side to emerge with a last-minute 2-1 victory.
Against the run of play on 25 minutes, Shane Duggan blasted home from 30-odd yards to give United the lead and, by association, the ascendancy.
Rovers, though, retook control of the tempo of the game after the break, with 15-year-old Kevin Zefi in particular impressing.
They levelled through Michael Leddy on 69 minutes and the next 20 or so were fairly frantic, with the visitors looking the more dangerous.
Galway had the last laugh, however, almost four minutes into stoppage time: Kevin Farragher was on hand to net the winner to seal three consecutive victories for Caulfield’s men.
