Bray Wanderers 1-1 Derry City
Bray Wanderers squandered a glorious opportunity to create significant daylight between themselves and the bottom two as they were were held to a 1-1 draw by Derry City in the SSE Airtricity League on Tuesday evening.
After hitting the front on the brink of half-time through Adam Mitchell, Alan Mathews’ embattled Seagulls were pegged back on the hour mark by Rory Patterson’s penalty but were then unable to find a winner with Jake Kelly firing high and wide from the spot.
The impetus remained with the hosts as Shaun Kelly received his second yellow for hauling his namesake, Jake, down with seven minutes remaining but Niall Cooney followed him back to the dressing rooms for a reckless lunge on Josh Tracey in stoppage time.
As it is, Bray extend their lead over UCD to five points with three games remaining but they are still nervously looking over their shoulder. They have now won just once in their last 18 league outings and the significance of Kelly’s miss was clear to see with hands in heads both on the pitch and in the stands.
Come the end of the season, however, they may look back on this as a point gained but it should have been more. Mathews’ hand hasn’t been helped by a series of injuries and ill-timed indiscipline - both Ismahil Akinade and Shane O’Connor were sent-off on Friday - but the former’s absence afforded Kelly with the opportunity to play through the middle and, in linking up with David Cassidy throughout, gave the hosts an added dimension in the final third.
Indeed, it was Kelly’s movement and turn of pace that caught Shane McEleney cold halfway through the first period. Having exposed the Candystripes’ disjointed defence by latching onto Dave Webster’s lofted ball, he did all the legwork but saw his lob over the out-rushing Ger Doherty come back off the bar.
It would only be natural for Bray to be tentative in their means but Kelly’s opportunism - although lacking the end product - ignited the hosts after an otherwise attritional opening to the contest.
As it was, space was at a premium with Cassidy finding a pocket to test the reflexes of Doherty from range and at the other end, Patterson’s snap-shot had Stephen McGuinnes furiously backpedalling.
There was little surprise that, with an FAI Cup semi-final on the horizon, Derry opted to leave several of their luminaries wrapped in cotton wool on the bench but those given the opportunity failed to inspire. The fact that Derry have failed to win any of their fixtures preceding cup ties this campaign underlines where their priorities lie.
Nevertheless, they should have hit the front against the run of play.
Former Seagull Sean Houston played a neat exchange with Barry McNamee but Patterson lacked conviction with only the ‘keeper to beat, dragging his effort wide of the upright.
It was a let-off for Bray and they took full advantage. Shaun Kelly failed to deal with a straightforward diagonal ball, fouling Hanlon in the process and from the resulting set-piece, Mitchell pounced.
Hanlon’s industry ensured the move stayed alive on the right and his low cross found the unmarked defender who headed home, unmarked, from a couple of yards.
Bray’s defensive frailties, however, is largely responsible for their lowly position. They’ve leaked 27 goals at home so far this term, the most in the division, and were exposed again on the hour mark.
They should arguably have been out of sight at that point. Kelly came close twice, forcing Doherty into a fine stop on the second occasion, but he was left to rue those missed opportunities.
Out of nothing Patterson bundled his way into the penalty area, going over the trailing leg of Webster, and referee Rob Rogers had little hesitation in pointing to the spot. The striker did the rest, calmly slotting the ball into the corner.
The momentum was with Derry and after the quick-footed Tracey saw his effort hacked off the line, Patterson’s follow-up was blocked as a hint of desperation creeped into Bray’s defending.
There will be more jumpy moments to come in the final few games, Kelly’s wayward penalty ensured that.
Bray Wanderers: Stephen McGuinness; Niall Cooney, Adam Mitchell, Dave Webster, Michael Barker; David Scully, Dean Zambra (Philip Hughes, 88’), Graham Kelly, David Cassidy, Adam Hanlon; Jake Kelly.
Subs not used: Gavin Sheridan, Eric McGill, Gareth McDonagh, Shane O’Neill, Rob Maloney.
Derry City: Ger Doherty; Shaun Kelly, Shane McEleney, Aaron Barry (Ryan McBride, 88’), Dean Jarvis; Josh Tracey, Sean Houston, Philip Lowry (Ryan Curran, 45’), Barry McNamee, Mark Timlin; Rory Patterson.
Subs not used: Ciaran Gallagher, Nathan Boyle, Patrick McEleney, Michael Duffy, Shay Dunlop.
Referee: Rob Rogers.
