Ten-man Bray Wanderers put a severe dent in St Patrick's Athletic's title hopes after this 1-1 draw at Richmond Park, writes Mark Cummins.
Paul Dunphy put Bray ahead on 53 minutes but Mark Quigley got one back for Pat’s on 81 to set up a cracking finish which saw Mark Duggan sent off fro Bray. Pat’s are now two points behind Bohemians with one more game played.
It was a low-key affair at the start with both sides taking their time to get back into the swing of things after the mid-season break.
Derek Pender saved Bray from going one down after just five minutes when he blocked a Quigley shot on the line. Quigley got his shot in after excellent work from Ryan Guy down the right and a super cross from Keith Fahey.
The home side continued to have the upper hand and on 13 minutes Gary O’Neill got the ball just beyond the centre circle and made a dash for the area but was hustled off the ball by Ray Kenny.
On 36 minutes Fahey swung a neat ball in from the right but Kevin Doherty got a boot to the ball in the box before a St Pat’s player could do any damage.
Bray ‘keeper Alan Gough denied Gary Dempsey on 41 minutes with his feet after Dempsey had collected a ball from Alan Kirby to his right.
Bray started the second half in explosive form and took the lead on 53 minutes when an Alan Cawley corner was knocked down by Doherty for Dunphy who beat Ryan from six yards.
Quigley nearly got Pat’s back in it immediately after that up the other end but Gough denied him. Gough was injured just after the hour mark and was replaced by fit again Chris O’Connor. He was treated on the sideline beside the goal for nearly 10 minutes before being carried from away on a stretcher.
Ger Rowe should have doubled Bray’s lead on the 77th minute but headed wide from close range with only Ryan to beat. Connor then saved Ryan Guy’s header with a fine stop but could do nothing about Quigley’s header on 81 after a Fahey free.
To make matters worse for the Wicklow side, Bray had Duggan sent off on 82.
St Pat’s: Barry Ryan, Brennan, Frost (Bobby Ryan 66), Byrne, Dempsey, Kirby, Fahey, Haverty, O’Neill (Fitzpatrick 75), Guy, Quigley.
Bray Wanderers: Gough (O’Connor 68), Cronin, Doherty, Whelan, Cawley, Kavanagh, Dunphy (Georgescu 70), Duggan, Pender, Kenny, Rowe (Onwubiko 90+1)
Referee: D McKeon (Dub).
