Hanlon goal sends Bray to fifth position
Hanlon came on late in the day, but he would have a very big say, his goal it brought joy, and a tear to the eye, and fifth spot for the brilliant Bray
ADAM HANLON picked the perfect time to break his Bray Wanderers duct as his late strike earned the Seagulls victory and fifth place in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division.
The winger was introduced in the 71st minute and then with nine minutes of normal time remaining, he registered his first ever goal for the Wicklow club at the 42nd attempt.
The goal may have been finished by an Arklow man but it was fashioned by a mixture of Nigeria and Whitechurch. Ismahil Akinade and Graham Kelly combined to find Hanlon inside the Limerick penalty area. He opted against the first-time shot and wormed his way into some space on the left before drilling home past Shane Cusack at his near post to spark ecstatic scenes.
Limerick boss Stuart Taylor claimed afterwards that if this had been a boxing match, the referee would have stopped it. But Taylor’s side failed to pack a punch as they came up against Bray’s defensive warriors; David Webster and Adam Mitchell.
The centre half pairing had a new addition to their backline; Jamie McGlynn was drafted in for his league debut to deputise for the suspended Rob Maloney.
McGlynn and co. were kept busy in a poor first half that the Shannonsiders dominated.
Alan Mathews’ charges improved in the second period and pinched victory in the last ten minutes as Hanlon found a gap to hand his side all three points.
The last time this pair met, expectations were virtually unknown as a slapdash squad assembled for Mathews’ first league match at the helm. Victory was expected on Friday though and Bray delivered, securing a seventh clean sheet of the season to boot.
Both sides began cautiously and fielded only one striker; but Limerick frontman Thomas McManus should have given his side the upper hand in the 22nd minute. Patrick Nzuzi sent in a cross from the left, McManus was onside and unmarked and he met it with a sweeping volley. Stephen McGuinness’ fetish for clean sheets remained strong though as the effort flew wide.
McGuinness’ goal came under threat again six minutes later but again, he was not called into action. Shane Tracy’s corner from the left found the forehead of Stephen Folan but his glanced attempt whizzed wide.
Another Tracy corner kick lead to Limerick’s third opportunity. This time, Webster intervened and nodded it out of immediate danger. It fell to McManus though and his venomous volley deflected off Webster and fortunately for Bray, spun straight into McGuinness’ arms.
Webster was again in the thick of things on the stroke of half time. After Tracy’s flag kick had been cleared, Nzonzi sent in back in. Webster steered it away from goal but only as far as Shane Duggan on the edge of the area, who crashed a dangerous volley wide.
In a man of the match performance against Athlone Town, Wanderers’ Stephen McGuinness timed several interceptions to perfection. On Friday, he was guilty of getting the judgement slightly wrong but he got out of jail. The shot-stopper charged from goal and ended up colliding with his own defender, taking him completely out of action. The ball was quickly worked back to Tracy but despite him pinging the ball over McGuinness, Webster had retreated to the goal-line and was able to calmly head it away.
Tracy’s corners continued to be a source of danger for Limerick and his 55th minute dead ball proved no different. It fell to powerhouse centre half Samuel Oji, who took it down on his chest and shot in one movement but he skied his skilful effort.
Wanderers finally registered a threat shortly after the hour mark. David Cassidy laid the ball back to McGlynn on the left and he delivered an outstanding first-time cross. David Scully was straining at the back post but failed to reach the magnificent centre.
Graham Kelly nearly bagged a fortuitous goal minutes later. His free kick was deflected back to him and he lined up a shot that took a wicked deflection and zipped inches wide of Cusack’s goal.
Cusack’s next act was to tame Shane O’Neill’s weak drive from the edge of the area and that was to be O’Neill’s last act. He was then replaced by Hanlon who would go on to show his team-mate how it was done.
The danger started as Akinade held it up inside the area. Graham Kelly then took up the mantle and skipped into space before offloading to Hanlon. He could have shot but instead he wriggled closer to goal and then shot, managing to squeeze it past the netminder for his first ever Bray goal.
A frantic and nervy finale should have been sealed in the 91st minute. Akinade broke free from a corner and released Hanlon. He returned the favour, sending Akinade through with only Cusack to beat and time to pick his spot. His goal drought continued though when he blazed over both Cusack and the crossbar to his and the crowd’s disbelief.
Top Form: David Webster (Bray Wanderers): A force to be reckoned with. BRAY WANDERERS 32. Stephen McGuinness; 12. Niall Cooney, 2. David Webster, 5. Adam Mitchell, 3. Jamie McGlynn; 19. Dave Scully, 24. Graham Kelly, 16. Dean Zambra, 7. Shane O’Neill; 8. David Cassidy; 9.
Ismahil Akinade. SUBS: Adam Hanlon for O’Neill (71). Not used: Shane Redmond, Danny O’Connor, Gary Curran, Michael Brown, Shane Byrne, Ciaran Byrne.
FERNS ST. AIDAN’S 1. Shane Cusack; 2. Shaun Kelly, 24. Samuel Oji, 5. Stephen Folan, 12. Patrick Nzuzi; 16. Patrick Agyemang; 11. Shane Tracy, 29. Jason Hughes, 8. Shane Duggan, 7. Danny Galbraith; 18. Thomas McManus. SUBS: James McGrath for Galbraith (81); Ross Mann for Tracy (88). Not used: Ali Abass, Michael Leahy, Darragh Rainsford, Colm Murphy, Tony Whitehead. VENUE: Carlisle Grounds
REFEREE: Ben Connolly (Dublin)