Bray Wanderers 0-0 Longford Town
Ten-man Longford Town hung for a point against Bray Wanderers at the Carlisle Grounds as their bottom-of-the-table SSE Airtricity Premier Division clash ended in a stalemate.
James Mulhall's 58th-minute dismissal for a second yellow card gave the hosts licence to throw the kitchen sink at Tony Cousins' men, but they held firm to take away a welcome point.
The two sides were rooted to the foot of the table coming into this clash, with Bray only escaping the ignominy of bottom spot on goal difference.
Despite a lively first half neither side could break the deadlock. Mulhall’s reckless challenge on Dylan Connolly had him in the book after just four minutes.
The hosts almost took the lead on nine minutes following a clever move as Ger Pender played in Connolly. He checked on to his right foot but curled just over the bar.
Longford responded when Kevin O'Connor’s strike was deflected out for a corner, from which Rhys Gorman forced Peter Cherrie into a smart save.
With the half-time break looming, Connolly drove forward, cutting in from the left and forcing Paul Skinner into a good save.
Longford suffered a blow in the 58th minute when Mulhall crashed into another tackle on Connolly and received his marching orders.
It was the second game in a row the Town failed to finish the 90 minutes with 11 men on the pitch.
That really gave the Seagulls the impetus to pour forward and they took the game by the scruff of the neck.
Pender and then Ryan Brennan with a volley stung Skinner’s palms but the visitors weren’t without a threat themselves, with Duffy stretching the Bray defence on the break.
Hugh Douglas fizzed a free-kick just wide with seven minutes to go as Bray turned the screw.
They huffed and puffed but couldn’t pick the lock, and it was Longford who almost plundered an unlikely win right the death when Josh O'Hanlon latched onto a loose ball but thrashed it wide.
Bray Wanderers: Peter Cherrie; Hugh Douglas, Sean Harding (Jason Marks 73), Conor Kenna, Alan McNally; Ryan Brennan, Dylan Connolly, Robbie Creevy, Karl Moore; Andrew Lewis, Ger Pender (Dean Kelly 73)
Longford Town: Paul Skinner; Mark Rossiter ( Peter McGlynn 62), Conor Powell, Rhys Gorman, Pat Flynn; Kaleem Simon, Kevin O'Connor, James Mulhall, Philip Gannon; David O'Sullivan, Lee Duffy (Josh O'Hanlon 73)
Referee: Kevin O'Regan
