Wasteful Wanderers leave the points behind
BRAY WANDERERS LIMERICK 0 1
THIS match - and the three precious points it offered - was left behind by Bray Wanderers on Friday night.
A so-called relegation six-pointer in which the Seagulls struck the woodwork twice and spurned a penalty before falling to Shane Duggan’s 50th minute strike which earned Limerick their third success of the season and second against the Co. Wicklow club.
Matches against Bray account for over 46% of Limerick’s points tally this season and it leaves them in ninth but still nine points clear of Bray.
The Limerick goal lived a very charmed life at the Carlisle Grounds though as the woodwork twice denied Kevin Lynch and McCabe also missed a penalty for the first time in four years.
It was a scrappy start to the match on Friday with both sides perhaps displaying why they’re operating in the lower echelons of the league table.
A decent cross from Eoin Wearen in the 24th minute found the head of Danny Morrissey but he couldn’t hit the target with his effort.
Three minutes later, Billy Dennehy’s in-swinging free kick was met by Killian Cantwell. His header was an improvement on Morrissey’s but still looped over the crossbar.
Bray finally truly threatened at the other end on 33 minutes. Gary McCabe’s corner was flicked on at the near post and Dan Kelly lurked at the far stick but couldn’t apply the finishing touch.
Five minutes before the break, the rejuvinated Cory Galvin baffled Billy Dennehy with his bag of tricks and won a penalty.
The last time McCabe failed from 12 yards was against Limerick for Shamrock Rovers and he repeated the trick as he blasted it into orbit.
Kevin Lynch almost spared McCabe’s blushes somewhat with a free kick. Conor Clifford fouled Ronan Coughlan and Lynch smashed the free kick towards the top corner. Brendan Clarke did excellent to touch it onto the crossbar and he was even happier when he saw the officials award a goal kick!
Having counted their blessings twice in as many minutes, Limerick were then left cursing themselves. Right-back Shaun Kelly cut in and whipped a cross into the danger-zone that Morrissey met emphatically but his volley flew over Aaron Dillon’s crossbar.
Within five minutes of the restart, the visitors had the lead. William Fitzgerald’s long-throw was not dealt with by the home defence and it fell to Limerick captain Shane Duggan who twisted and turned before drilling into the bottom corner. A handful of the 470 in attendance danced with delight, whilst the majority slumped further into their seats.
Bray’s first sniff of a leveller saw Rhys Gorman charge onto Daniel Kelly’s right-wing cross but the Greystones man’s header finished the wrong side of the post.
A cross from the left very nearly produced the equaliser for the Seagulls. Lynch fired in a doozy of a cross and Limerick defender Killian Brouder deflected it towards his own goal. He was very grateful to see Clarke repel it.
Ronan Coughlan’s last outing by the Seaside saw him land the winner against Shamrock Rovers and he almost bagged his second Seagulls goal when latching onto Dan McKenna’s cross but he guided it narrowly wide.
With Bray committing men to the attack, Limerick inevitably had chances fall into their lap. A Shane Duggan strike from the edge of the box had Dillon sweating before finishing over the bar and then Morrissey headed Dennehy’s delivery wide.
While three points were beyond Bray by the 88th minute, denying Limerick two points would have been worthy of celebration. And they so nearly did it when McCabe’s corner was knocked down to Lynch by Clarke but the left-back’s strike kissed the crossbar as it ascended into the Bray night sky.
There was one last teaser for the home fans as Douglas met a corner but failed to test Clarke as Bray slumped to their 11th defeat of the season. On paper, it’s just another defeat. But in reality, it’s a devastating blow.