Bray Wanderers 1-0 Finn Harps
A first goal for the club from skipper Conor Kenna further eased Bray Wanderers' relegation worries as they ended Finn Harps’ good recent run of form with a fully deserved victory at the Carlisle Grounds.
The win stretched Bray’s unbeaten run to five games with the added bonus of a fifth consecutive clean sheet.
Of more importance, it edged Harry Kenny’s side eight points clear of bottom-of-the-table Longford Town, and four ahead of Wexford Youths in the relegation play-off spot, though Youths have a game in hand.
Despite good current form, both sides made changes with Bray bringing both Kevin Lynch and Darragh Noone in for starting debuts.
Ethan Boyle and Packie Mailey returned for Harps while 36-year-old record goalscorer, and club captain, Kevin McHugh made his first start of the league season in attack alongside Dave Scully.
It was Bray who started the sharper though, utterly dominating the first half, with John Sullivan setting the tone three minutes in when he wasn’t too far over the top with a 20-yard drive.
Five minutes later Dylan Connolly should have done better to pick out someone in the box after Ryan Brennan put him in behind the Harps’ defence on the left.
The Bray left-winger was then guilty of a bit of a sitter on 11 minutes, shooting wastefully wide after Noone treaded him in on goal.
The chances kept coming for the home side as, within a further minute, Richard Brush saved well with his feet from Andrew Lewis after Lynch’s cross from the left wasn’t dealt with by the Harps’ defence.
Some solid defending by Keith Cowan then kept Bray out on 28 minutes as the central defender bravely blocked a shot from Connolly, who’d burst through from midfield.
But the pressure finally told as Bray deservedly took the lead, for what would prove their winner, on 32 minutes.
Karl Moore whipped over their third corner of the game from the right and central defender Conor Kenna found the roof of the net with a bullet header for a fine debut goal for the club.
Harps didn’t register a chance on goal until the five minutes later when former Bray winger Adam Hanlon brought a comfortable save from Peter Cherrie with a 25-yard shot.
A change at half-time by Harps saw Ruairi Keating replace McHugh as manager Ollie Horgan went with one up front.
And Keating should have levelled on 63 minutes with Harps’ first clearcut chance of the match.
Packie Mailey got free on the right to put over a deflected cross which Keating somehow shot over the top from just yards out.
Another substitute, Raymond Foy, should also have done better on 72 minutes, blazing over the bar from the edge of the area from Hanlon’s pull back.
Bray Wanderers: Peter Cherrie; Hugh Douglas, Conor Kenna, Tim Clancy, Kevin Lynch; John Sullivan; Karl Moore (Gareth McDonagh 74), Ryan Brennan, Darragh Noone (Ger Pender 89), Dylan Connolly; Andrew Lewis.
Finn Harps: Richard Brush; Damien McNulty (Michael Funston 63), Packie Mailey, Keith Cowan; Ethan Boyle, Adam Hanlon, Barry Molloy, Sean Houston, Josh Mailey; Dave Scully (Raymond Foy 63), Kevin McHugh (Ruairi Keating h/t).
Referee: Rob Hennessy (Clare).
