Kelly and Moorehouse combine
BRAY WANDERERS 2 WEXFORD FC 0
A second-half volley of the highest quality from Cormac Kelly, and a late poacher’s finish from John Moorehouse were the difference as Bray Wanderers Under-19’s saw off a dogged Wexford FC by two goals to nil in the SSE Airtricty League Under-19 Elite Southern Division.
This game was a bottom of the table six-pointer of sorts, with the result lifting Bray off the foot of the table, while it condemned Wexford to the bottom berth.
A beautiful May evening at the Carlisle Grounds played host to this clash, and while the conditions were perfect, the dour first-half display from both sides was far from.
Wanderers dominated the early stages in terms of possession, and while they spent long spells camped inside the final third, their end product let them down on several occasions.
Just before the twenty-minute mark it appeared that we had an opening goal, a thunderous 40-yard effort was sent goalward by Luke Clucas, and Adam Dempsey’s save in the Wexford goal fell to Bray winger Dion Agbonze, he lifted the ball back into the danger area before Connal Flood turned it home, it appeared to be a fine goal – until the referee’s assistant correctly adjudged Flood to have been in an offside position.
Little else of note happened in the first-half, with neither side particularly threatening. On the brink of the half-time whistle Wexford may have found themselves in front when Vinny Quinlan was slipped through by Jack Bates, the Wexford striker looked certain to score but was called back by referee Alex Hunter as he had strayed into an offside position in the run-up.
The second-half was a brighter affair, with Bray taking the game to Wexford in search of the three points, and while they retained possession impressively, it took the Seagulls until the 78th to find an opener.
Wexford had mostly limited Bray to longrange efforts the whole game, and unfortunately for the away side it was a thunderous long-range volley that did the damage.
The game had lost its flow at this point and a hopeful long ball forward from Bray was partially dealt with by the Wexford rear guard, but the ball bounced up nicely in front of Cormac Kelly who from no less than 35-yards struck a volley that cannoned into the roof of the net.
Looking for an equalizer, Wexford desperately went in search and left themselves open at the back. Yaw Aboakye came on as a substitution and made things difficult for the Bray defence, he provided plenty of flair and creativity – everything that Wexford were lacking up until that point.
Five minutes after Kelly opened the scoring, substitute John Moorehouse concluded it on 85 minutes.
Moorehouse put the icing on the cake when Agbonze hit a cross-come-shot that ricocheted inside the Wexford six-yard box and bounced in front of Moorehouse before he struck it home.
A deserved win for Bray, and one of importance. While it wasn’t a vintage performance from the home side, it was a confidence inducing result as they dug deep against a defensive unit and ground out a result. Bray were in action on the following Saturday as they hosted Galway United at the Carlisle Grounds, they defeated the Tribesmen 2-1 with Connal Flood and Shane Heffernan getting on the scoresheet to conclude a very promising week for the Seagull’s Under-19’s side.
Bray Wanderers: 1. Ryan Brown, 2. Shane Heffernan, 3. Jack Whelan, 4. Calvin Rogers, 5. Cian Gilson, 6. Ross Broderick, 7. Luke Clucas, 8. Cormac Kelly, 9. Connal Flood, 10. David Gilsenan, 11. Dion Agbonze.
Subs: 99. Nathan Wolohan, 12. John Moorehouse, 13. Dylan O’Connor, 14. Gavin Howard, 15. Jake Ellis, 16. Eoin Darcy, 17. Stephen Morley.