‘We’ve a massive game against Wexford this weekend’

EVEN though he had a dream 72 hours, Gary Cronin is not getting carried away. Before meeting with Cabinteely on Friday, the Bray boss said victory could bring the Seagulls back into the title race.

After defeating Athlone on Monday, only goal difference kept the Co. Wicklow club out of pole position but yet they’re also only three points clear of sixth.

Cronin was pleased but not ecstatic about his side’s overcoming of Athlone having seen them fall behind but was very encouraged to see his side had the ability to recover.

‘It was a frustrating opening 25 minutes - conceding the goal was poor from ourselves; it was a lack of concentration. We didn’t really come out of the blocks.

‘They’ve nothing to lose and they started better and we probably stood off them a little too much but...generally we’ve been starting games really, really well. It didn’t happen tonight - maybe it’s down to fatigue but the lads dragged themselves back into the game which was pleasing.

‘Something we learned from last year is that you have to learn with those disappointments of going a goal down. We didn’t really deal with that last year but now we got back on level terms as soon as possible...I would’ve been happy just to get level for half-time but the lads did really well to get two goals close together.’

Victory against Wexford on Friday could see Wanderers take pole position, defeat could see them drop out of the play-offs and into sixth. Cronin is not about to count any chickens in this madcap campaign.

‘It’s crazy to think after 10 games, we’re on the run-in! That’s the world we live in at the moment though. It’s getting to that stage, I was looking at the schedule and we’ve a massive game against Wexford at the weekend and it’s important that we pick up three points and hopefully we can do that.

‘Then in seven days we have Longford, Cobh away and Drogheda - that’ll be massive week. Every game is really, really big for us because it’s effectively turned into a runin...it’s going to chop and change for the next five weeks.

‘Look at Galway, they’re coming back into it now. Listen, flip of a coin in it at the moment - all we can do is concentrate on ourselves and take it game by game and hopefully we’ll get the next three points in Wexford.

Every team can take points off each other so you have to really concentrate.

‘A lot of the times, you’ll look out for the other results but you can’t effect it, you can just look after your own. It is a game-by-game basis. We’re not thinking beyond Wexford.’