St Patrick’s Athletic 1
Bray Wanderers 2
Harry Manning reports from Richmond Park
BRAY WANDERERS SEALED an impressive SSE Airtricity League Premier Division opening-day victory as Harry Kenny’s men overcame St Patrick’s Athletic at Richmond Park.
Goals from debutants Anthony Flood and Gary McCabe gave the visitors the spoils, with Graham Kelly pulling one back for the Saints late on.
Liam Buckley’s charges finished the game with nine men after Conor Keena saw red for a late challenge on Dylan Connolly, before the resulting bust-up saw Darren Dennehy given his marching orders.
The Seagulls began the game with a flourish and on 22 minutes broke the deadlock. Dylan Connolly displayed his electric pace in darting towards goal, where he spotted Flood in acres of space. The former Saints striker made no mistake in blasting the ball into the roof of the net.
Bray picked up where they left off in the second half and increased their lead when McCabe capitalised on a poor defensive error before bending a shot from the cusp of the area into the bottom left corner on 65 minutes.
Pat’s improved as the half progressed and pulled one back with five minutes to play when Graham Kelly bundled a loose ball over the line to make it 2-1.
In the closing stages Keena was dismissed for upending Connolly, with Dennehy shortly following, bringing the game to a close with some rather unsavoury scenes.
St Patrick’s Athletic: Barry Murphy; Michael Barker, Gavin Peers, Darren Dennehy, Ian Bermingham; Patrick Cregg, Alex O’Hanlon (Billy Dennehy, 54), JJ Lunney (Aidan Keena, 68); Conan Byrne, Christy Fagan, Kurtis Byrne (Graham Kelly, 54)
Bray Wanderers: Peter Cherrie; Hugh Douglas, Conor Kenna, Tim Clancy, Kevin Lynch; John Sullivan, Keith Buckley, Gary McCabe (Ryan Brennan, 83); Aaron Greene, Anthony Flood (Ger Pender, 73), Dylan Connolly (Karl Moore, 90).
Referee: Derek Tomney
Correction: This article has been amended to clarify that Darren Dennehy was sent off for St Patrick’s Athletic, not Gavin Peers.