Pat makes match with an eleventh hour dash

June 1994

A Bray soccer fan made an eleventh hour dash across the Atlantic to be in Giants Stadium for Ireland’s victory.

The trip was made all the more memorable for joiner Pat Ryan by the fact that having failed to secure tickets over recent weeks, He had cancelled travel plans made as far back as last February. ‘I booked flights and accommodation for New York, but had to give up because I just couldn’t get a ticket anywhere,’ said Pat.

But with less than 48 hours to go before the kick-off, Pat got word from his brother in New York that he had managed to secure precious seats for the Ireland-Italy game.

There was no shortage of friendly faces from Bray in the stadium to savour Ireland’s greatest soccer triumph, including John O’Brien, John Holmes and Eddie Cox from Bray Wanderers, local businessman Cyril Dunne, and Jackie Vance, member of a Bray soccer dynasty.