Bohemians 2-0 Bray Wanderers

Two goals in two minutes at the tail end of the first half were enough for Bohemians to see off Bray Wanderers at Dalymount Park.

The champions owned the ball for the majority of the game but struggled initially to break their opponents down, before a trademark Killian Brennan free kick did the initial damage with Jason Byrne adding a second.

Eddie Gormley set his team up with two lines of defence sitting deep and the tactic stifled the champions' endeavours for much of the opening half an hour.

Bohemians found it difficult to maintain their shape with Brennan, normally a left winger, deployed on the right and drifting inside to crowd matters in the already compact midfield.

They had chances, mind, with Byrne firing a rising drive just over as he went in search of the goal that would put him into the top ten all time League of Ireland goalscorers.

Bray started brightly enough and found some early gaps with Dave Mulcahy's curler the closest they came before the Gypsies began assuming complete ownership of the football.

Finding their rhythm, in the 20th minute the home side saw Brennan cut in from the right, play a one-two with Joseph Ndo and try an audacious reverse shot from outside the box that drifted wide.

John Flood nicked Ndo's corner off the head of Byrne before Graham Carey tried his luck from distance. Set pieces were beginning to bother Wanderers and Ken Oman managed to not get enough on Carey's corner with Byrne just missing out with a despairing lunge.

Byrne had a penalty shout when he was bundled off Ndo's perfect pass by Dane Massey while Chris Deans did well to dispossess Glen Crowe with the goal at his mercy.

The visitors were just holding out when in the 42nd minute Brennan ventured inside again and drew a foul from Mulcahy and the winger dusted himself off and dispatched a curling set piece past Chris O'Connor.

Like the proverbial bus along came another one, this time Brennan turning creator sending Brian Shelley to the by line and he cut back to Byrne who netted with his head to join the pantheon of great Irish goalscorers with his 145th league goal.

That was that, Bray worked hard after the break but they couldn't get near the ball for much of it as they were out muscled by their hosts.

Byrne might have had a second if it wasn't for a fine Derek Foran block while Neale Fenn could have marked his return from injury with a goal had his header been sharper, but it was immaterial as they ran out comfortable winners.

Bohemians: B Murphy; Shelley, Heary, Oman, Powell; Brennan, Deegan (Keegan 58), Ndo, Carey (A Murphy 68); Crowe (Fenn 77), Byrne.

Bray Wanderers: O'Connor; Webster, Foran, Deans, Massey; McCabe, Brennan (Shields 36), Mulcahy, Flood (Kelly 45); Byrne (Mulroy 71), Kavanagh.

Referee: A Kelly (Cork)