A DREADFUL START
Bray crash to a 4-2 defeat on horrible opening night
at Stradbrook CABINTEELY BRAY WANDERERS 4 2
ONE hundred and fifty three days since their last outing, some Bray Wanderers fans might have been wondering exactly what it is what was that they missed so much about football.
They were outfought and outthought in a first half that saw Cabinteely strike at any given opportunity; or even half-chance – while Bray’s tendency to lump it long to Gary Shaw could not have been less conducive to the devilish wind and rain.
Cabinteely adapted better to the horrendous conditions and they absolutely made hay in a first half in which the sun never shone.
Kieran ‘Marty’ Waters opened the scoring, Vilius Labutis doubled their lead and then a brace of goals from Newtown native Keith Dalton left Bray shell-shocked as they tried to pick up the pieces at the half time break.
The wicked wind almost had the torrential rain blowing in horizontally at Stradbrook as Gary Cronin gave debuts to five players (a second debut in Gary Shaw’s case).
But with so many fresh faces on display, it was a familiar face to both clubs that broke the deadlock. A throw-in down the left flank broke kindly to ‘Marty’ Waters and he did not need a second invitation as he instantly swooped to open the scoring with a swift finish.
A strike from 20 yards out by Jonathan Carlin had Brian Maher worried in the Bray goal but it would sail over the crossbar.
With Bray still barely unable to make it out of their own half, Cabo netted a second when midfielder Vilius Labutis was the first to react to a scramble in the penalty area to force it home and leave Pat Devlin’s side two goals to the good.
Within seven minutes, the hosts had earned themselves a threegoal cushion. Against the Co. Wicklow side, it was Bray’s Luke Clucas’ free kick that Brian Maher parried, and Dalton turned in the rebound.
The Bray Wanderers and Cabinteely teams take to the field for the opening game in the SSE Airtricity League First Division campaign at Stradbrook last weekend.
Starting down the barrel of the three-goal deficit at the interval was probably not how Cronin imagined his first half-time break of 2020 but apparently Cabo hadn’t heaped enough misery on yet and they’d grab a fourth before Kevin O’Sullivan’s whistle.
They saved the best until last. Their initial attack broke down and was cleared but they fired the ball back towards the danger zone and Dalton cut in off the left flank and unleashed a beaut that flew past Maher and arced into the top corner.
Bray were, understandably, the first team out for the second half with Cronin’s words probably still ringing in their ears. Derek Daly was thrown into the fray to try and offer some creativity with Brandon McCann sacrificed.
The elements may have technically in Bray’s favour but the scoreline certainly wasn’t and it
looked an unclimbable mountain.
The Seagulls at least ascended to ground level in the 59th minute when Gary Shaw met Dylan Barnett’s deep corner and sent a looping header to the far corner. Bray wanted to get the ball back to the centre circle as quickly as possible but a round of pushing and shoving ensued as they did so which saw the referee book one player on each side.
With the rain continuing to batter down, the pitch succumbed to some very muddy spots which saw the ball moving through it like the M50 traffic most evenings.
The sight of Arklow’s Aaron Barry sporting a bandaged head aptly summed up Bray’s evening; up for the fight but sadly they were completely outpunched.
They would come close to pulling another goal back in the 81st minute when Dylan Barnett’s free kick clipped the top of the crossbar
and then in the 92nd minute they did so but it was definitely too little, too late as Jack Watson poked the ball over the line from a couple of yards.
35. Michael Kelly; 2. Daniel Blackbyrne, 18. Christian Lotefa, 3. Jonathan Carlin, 4. Jack Hudson; 7. Keith Dalton, 6. Alex Aspil, 16. Vilius Labutis, 15. Eoin Massey, 10. Kieran ‘Marty’ Waters; 9. Luke Clucas.
CABINTEELY: SUBS:
Shane Barnes for Clucas (67); Dean Casey for Dalton (79); Lloyd Buckley for Waters (90). Not used: Peter Quinlan, Ciaran Grogan, Zak O’Neill, Eoin McPhillips.
BRAY WANDERERS:
30. Brian Maher;
2. John Ross Wilson, 4. Killian Cantwell,
5. Aaron Barry, 3. Dylan Barnett; 9. Joe Doyle, 6. Paul Keegan, 17. Luka Lovic, 18. Brandon McCann, 7. Ryan Graydon; 10. Gary Shaw.
Derek Daly for McCann (H/T); Jack Watson for Lovic (69). Not used: Adam Hayden, Leigh Kavanagh, Luke Nolan, Tristan Noack Hoffman, Conor Behan.
SUBS: REFEREE: VENUE:
Kevin O’Sullivan.
Stradbrock, Blackrock.