Leinster Senior Cup

Carlisle Grounds
24 May 2010

A much-needed if hard-earned win for the home side puts Bray into their first Cup semi-final – against UCD – in the Leinster Senior Cup.

The Seagullls went ahead just after the quarter hour, when Shane O'Neill slid home from close range after Robbie Doyle beat the off-side trap to claim John Mulroy's long ball up the right and cross.

O'Neill doubled the home side's advantage when a Mulroy corner was partially cleared but fell to the striker just outside the area, and his controlling touch allowed him to fire hard past Matt Gregg.

The double advantage barely survived the break, with Chris Shields adjudged to have taken Michael McGowan down in the Bray area. Former Seagull Alan Cawley stepped up to put the spot kick past Brian Kane.

And McGowan restored equality barely ten minutes later, heading home a Cawley free from the left-hand sideline.

Despite a number of chances on both sides, that remained the scoreline at the regulation final whistle, and the tie entered extra time.

Neither side could breach the other's defence in the two periods of 15 minutes.

But while Gregg pulled off a flying save to deny Kelly who took Bray's first penalty, Ciaran McGuigan and Tiarnan Mulvenna both missed for Dundalk with spot-kicks over the bar.

The play was fairly evenly matched at first. Brian Begley crossed in for Johnny Breen to attempt a shot, but Dane Massey headed safely to Kane.

With a seventh minute free, Shane O'Neill shot just over from 30m, and three minutes later, Robbie Doyle shot straight at Gregg, and a minute later when Jake Kelly won a corner, Massey's short ball for Robbie Doyle led to McGowan taking out the Bray striker's cross.

After Bray opened the scoring, Doyle was unlucky not to get a clean shot after beating Cathal Bellew to Massey's free when it was returned to the centre by Mulroy.

Breen got a shot in after some mixed communication between Kane and Massey, but missed the target.

On the half hour, Robbie Doyle again beat the trap and jinked around Gregg before crossing in, only for Shields to head high.

With ten minutes left in the half, a good Dundalk attack was frustrated when Breen appeared to take Webster down in the Bray area, and minutes later Robbie Doyle missed again following another Massey feed.

A Bray corner taken by Robbie Doyle went out off Nathan Murphy for another, this time Mulroy the flag-kicker. His shot was partially cleared but only as far as O'Neill, who blasted past Gregg from outside the area.

There were further scoring chances before Richie Winter blew up the break, the best falling to Breen, whose injury time effort rattled the goal-net stanchion.

More scoring chances in the opening seconds of the second period, a defensive deflection of O'Neill's effort when he recovered possession allowing Gregg to take, and then what appeared a somewhat harsh penalty decision against Shields, though Winter appeared to have no hesitation.

The referee also seemed to be well-positioned to see Daire Doyle appear to handle the ball under pressure from McGowan, but took no action on that occasion.

Dundalk might have scored after a clever idea to backheel for Kane in the area by Webster was mistimed and gave Breen an opportunity, but his falling effort flew past the posts.

Another Bray corner played past the goal to Robbie Doyle by Mulroy was fed back in but played over the bar by Webster.

It was an Alan Cawley free in the left corner that allowed McGowan to head home Dundalk's equaliser.

Bray lifted the tempo for the remaining half-hour, but couldn't get a winner.

Gregg had little difficulty with an effort by substitute Andrei Georgescu, and Kelly had a shot wide just after, and Shields, who had also shot over minutes earlier, almost created a bizarre winner, when Begley's interception of his cross with a backpass left Gregg scrambling to collect before it crossed the line.

Georgescu was ruled offside when he beat the two Dundalk central defenders to net from a narrow angle, and the Romanian twice crossed for O'Neill just before and just after the end of the regulation 90 minutes.

With the exception of a Breen wide, Bray had all the chances in the first period of extra time - O'Neill, Shane O'Connor and Massey all missing chances before Gregg had to push away a Kelly corner in time added.

The second fifteen minutes started with a great save by Kane from a McGowan shot, but though the visitors had two corners during this final session, it was Gregg who was the busier keeper, collecting several Bray crosses and pushing away a corner by substitute Ian Tuohy.

But the scoreline remained unchanged.

On the form book, Gregg would have to have been seen as the keeper more likely to win a penalty shootout, and he duly managed a fine save to deny Kelly with Bray's first penalty.

The next two spotkicks on each side were well-converted, and then Kane was unlucky enough to see his flying touch on McGowan's effort merely touch off the upright and continue into the net.

With Bray now one penalty down, it came as a surprise if not a shock when both McGuigan and finally Mulvenna shot over Kane's crossbar while Webster and O'Neill made no mistake.

Mícheál Ó hUanacháin

Penalties

Bray shot first

BRAY WANDERERS	4-3	DUNDALK
Kelly Saved		Cawley
Shields		Miller
Massey		McGowan
Webster		McGuigan Missed
O'Neill		Mulvenna Missed

Bray Wanderers: 1 Brian Kane; 2 Daire Doyle (c), 4 Shane O'Connor, 5 David Webster, 3 Dane Massey; 11 Jake Kelly, 8 Dylan Vickers, 6 Chris Shields, 7 John Mulroy; 9 Robert Doyle, 10 Shane O'Neill
Subs: 12 Andrei Georgescu (for R Doyle 57), 14 Adam O'Connor, 15 Nicky Byrne (for D Doyle 68), 16 Philip Higgins, 17 Pablo Rodriguez, 18 Ian Tuohy (for Mulroy 109), 25 Carl Donnelly (gk)
Dundalk: 22 Matt Gregg; 2 Brian Begley, 5 Ciaran McGuigan, 6 Cathal Bellew, 3 Nathan Murphy; 7 Tiarnán Mulvenna, 4 Tom Miller, 8 Alan Cawley (c), 10 Stephen McDonnell; 11 Michael McGowan, 9 Johnny Breen
Subs: 1 Peter Cherrie (gk), 12 Gary Clarke, 13 Conal Mulvenna, 14 Philip Duffy, 15 Sean Hand, 16 Mark Griffin (for McDonnell 106+), 17 Billy Smith
Referee: Richie Winter