Rovers lose to Bray
BRAY WANDERERS SLIGO ROVERS 4 0
A dominant performance against Sligo Rovers saw homegrown talents Ger Pender and Darragh Noone on the scoresheet again in the first half as the Seagulls floated up to eighth in the Premier Division table.
Andrew Lewis and Sean Harding completed the rout late on.
Pender opened the scoring from dead- eye range for his third goal in as many appearances and Noone doubled that lead with only his second ever League of Ireland goal – seven days after his maiden strike.
Lewis marked his return from injury by notching just a minute and a half after vacating the bench but Bray saved the best until last as birthday boy Sean Harding blasted home from distance.
The Bit O’Red were complete understudies and offered no fight bar a few minutes in the second period.
Dave Robertson’s side currently sit fifth in the table but they now have the Seagulls breathing down their neck with the Co. Wicklow club just four points standing between and fifth spot.
Tim Clancy’s return from injury saw Alan McNally drop to the bench for the visit of the Connacht side, whilst Jason Marks replaced the injured John Sullivan as Kenny stuck to his 4- 1- 4- 1 formation with Mark Salmon deployed in front of the back four in a role in which he flourished.
Both of Bray’s first half goals came from set- pieces; the first from their opening corner on 15 minutes.
Karl Moore delivered from the left, Conor Kenna flicked it on at the near post and Pender stabbed it home from inside six yards.
Connolly was under intense scrutiny throughout and Rovers would collect four yellow cards for fouling him - two of which saw Regan Donelon dismissed 18 minutes from time.
He finally found a yard of space in the centre circle on 26 minutes and motored towards the penalty area only to be cynically tripped by Donelon for the first of those two cautions. Moore’s free kick struck the wall.
Moore would prove more successful from the deadball as he grabbed an assist three minutes shy of the break.
Gavin Peers fouled Connolly, Moore curled in and found Noone unmarked and he calmly applied the finishing touch – cushioning a volley beyond Schlingermann’s right hand.
Wanderers had created two decent chances prior to that and both came down the right flank. First, Pender’s neat lay- off sent Marks down the right.
He shipped it to Douglas, whose deep cross was nudged back into Salmon’s path by Moore but the ex- Town skipper screwed the shot timidly wide.
The other opportunity also involved Douglas. Salmon, who orchestrated the play brilliantly all evening, spread the play down the right flank.
Douglas moved it inside to Noone who tried to chip it to the top corner but Schlingermann casually plucked it out of the air.
Darragh Noone, Karl Moore and Kevin Lynch celebrate as Kieran Sadlier reacts to the 2nd goal It looked like 3- 0 shortly after the hour.
Michael Leahy conceded a corner under pressure and then put through his own net from the resulting flag kick.
Bray barely noticed referee Ben Connolly’s whistle during their celebrations but the official had spotted a foul and ruled it out.
Sligo’s fading hopes perished in the 72nd minute when Donelon upended Connolly for a second time and received a second yellow card.
It took the hosts five minutes to press home their numerical advantage and less than two minutes for Lewis to mark his return from an ankle problem. A long ball from Clancy was not dealt with by Peers and Lewis did not wait for an invitation as he lobbed Schlingermann who had wandered to the edge of his area.
Three goals had preceded Sean Harding’s arrival but he ensured that the best was left until last.
Moore rolled a corner all the way back to the full- back on the edge of the area and after one touch, Harding drilled an unstoppable effort in off the inside of the far post.
Saturday’s superb victory has seen Bray take control of eighth spot.
A win over Wexford Youths on Friday could lift them into the top six.
Bray Wanderers: 1. Peter Cherrie; 2. Hugh Douglas, 21. Tim Clancy, 4. Conor Kenna, 19. Kevin Lynch; 8. Mark Salmon; 11. Jason Marks, 22. Darragh Noone, 8. Mark Salmon, 16. Dylan Connolly; 17. Ger Pender.
SUBS: Andrew Lewis for Pender ( 75); Alan Kehoe for Marks ( 79); Sean Harding for Douglas ( 85). Not used: Lee Steacy, Alan McNally, Paul Finnegan, Chris Lyons.
Sligo Rovers: 1. Micheal Schlingermann; 2. Tobi Adebayo- Rowling, 44. Gavin Peers, 4. Michael Leahy, 3. Regan Donelon; 19. Danny Kearns, 17. Jimmy Keohane, 18. John Russell, 27. Liam Martin; 10. Raffael Cretaro, 7. Achille Campion.
SUBS: Gary Boylan for Leahy ( 64). Not used: Ciaran Nugent, Pat McCann, Phil Roberts, Mikey Place, Mark Hannon.