Manager heaps praise on players and fans
ALAN MATHEWS heaped praise on the players and fans of Bray Wanderers after yet another impressive scalp for the Seagulls.
Seventh place is the Seagulls’ latest home following their 1-0 win over the Lilywhites on Friday, where Dave Scully’s second half header secured all three points for the Co. Wicklow club.
And just like the Wanderers fans, the Bray manager was singing the praises of his stars after the victory.
“We played very well from start to finish. They’re top of the table, it was always going to be tough for us. We created a couple of good chances in the first, didn’t take them. We got one and it was enough in the end but we did play well and I’m delighted with it because it’s a good reward for the way we’ve been playing the last couple of games.
“We maybe left a couple of points behind us last Friday here against Derry – should’ve beat them, didn’t. Rovers, really, we only got going the last 20 minutes or so, perhaps could’ve got something, possibly didn’t deserve it. But certainly tonight, to get three points is very satisfying.”
With Jake Kelly facing several months out, the attack has been left without its star. But Mathews is confident that his teammates can fill the void.
“Dave Scully’s scored a few goals for us, we’ve got a bit of pace in attack and if we’re scoring from set pieces, that’ll do for me. We were a threat tonight. I thought their ‘keeper made a couple of good saves early on, Shane O’Neill had a couple of shots. Izzy, maybe needs a goal but he had a couple of shots on target. If people are contributing who are from different areas of the pitch, it’s grand. We’ve lost Jake who gave us that bit of quality up top but other people have come in and done quite well.”
But even if the attacking options are short, Mathews feels that with things tight at the back, his team will be okay.
“We set about keeping the result right, set about keeping the clean sheet despite all the changes and the change in formation they made, I don’t think Stephen (McGuinness) was called upon to make any stops in the game and again, it’s another clean sheet. If we keep keeping clean sheets, we’ll get goals in the end because we have fellas with pace and who are a threat so it was very satisfying because it was an important win for us.
“We’re just glad that we’ve won tonight and we can see progress week on week and as long as we do that, we’ll be okay.”
Mathews also had kind words for the men who cheered his side over the line in the closing stages of the tie; the Bray fans.
“They’ve been very supportive here since we’ve come on board both home and away. It’s important that when you’re playing at home that your crowd are with you and you give them something to support. We’ve been trying to play in the right areas and we’ve been looking to get the right results by playing the right brand of football. Sometimes you can’t do it but I thought tonight they were certainly behind us as they have been and we got the result as well as a good performance.”