Seagulls surge to victory over 10-man Kerry FC
Magerusan bags sweet winner for Bray Wanderers
THERE was lighting and hailstorms to contend with on Friday night but noting as explosive a goal-laden five-minute spell that ensured that Bray Wanderers avoided embarrassment against 10-man Kerry FC.
The hosts saw Nathan Gleeson dismissed in the first half but took the lead in stunning fashion on half-time.
Ian Ryan’s charges had to wait until the 70th minute to gain parity through Peter Grogan but that lasted all of 120 seconds as the 10 men retook the lead.
But two goals in three minutes from Darren Craven and Cristian Magerusan tipped this tumultuous tie in the Co. Wicklow club’s favour.
After Guillermo Almirall conceded possession in the sixth minute, Daire McCarthy’s instant sweeping pass released Okwuy Okwute. He only had Jimmy Corcoran to beat but he skewed his shot wide when he really should have scored.
Six minutes later, the roving Sean McGrath played Okwute in down the right. He forced his way inside and tried to tee up Ryan Kelliher at the back post, but Corcoran clawed it out of immediate danger only for McGrath to follow in. Corcoran leapt at the midfielder and made a point-blank block.
Hellacious hail began bucketing out of the sky just as an attempt from Kerry to play it out from the back saw them succumb to pressure and concede a corner. Paul Murphy took a swipe at the resulting cross which actually turned into a decent first touch but his second saw him blast over from eight yards.
Referee Mark Moynihan elected to take the players from the field at this point until the hail passed. They returned a few minutes later but a flash of lighting prevented them from restarting and led to a half hour delay.
On 27 minutes, Nathan Gleeson would pick up a costly booking as his clumsy challenge felled Harry
Groome.
From that free kick, Antonio Tuta punched Darren Craven’s strike behind. And from that corner, Kieran Cruise’s delivery seemed to come off Craven and loop goalwards, but Tuta had it covered.
Gleeson’s evening came to an end after 39 minutes as he chased after Max Murphy and clipped him.
Kerry went down to 10 men in this fixture in 2023 also as a player received two yellow cards – the second also for a foul on Murphy.
Kerry might possibly have had a second red card when Okwute appeared to kick out at Murphy, but Monynihan kept his hands away from his pockets as he told the players to calm down.
A goal of the season contender gave Kerry the lead on the stroke of half-time. Paul Murphy nodded away a cross from the left. Kevin Williams took a touch before unleashing a hellacious strike that swung, swerved and spun as it flew past Corcoran from 25 yards.
So, Bray found themselves in familiar territory in the second period. A man up but trailing and struggling to break down a low block.
Kerry kept the visitors at arm’s length until the 70th minute when the match exploded. Wanderers wanted a penalty for handball as a Kerry defender blocked a cross. They had to settle for a corner, but it worked out okay as Peter Grogan rose to nod home Shane Griffin’s delivery for his first goal for the club.
Kerry probably feared an immediate onslaught but a sloppy pass from a Bray defender gifted them a corner and from Steven Healy’s deep delivery, Victor Udeze held off his man to power a header past Corcoran.
This was heading for disaster for the Seagulls but, remarkably, they were ahead within three minutes.
A high, hopeful cross from the right from Turley saw Tuta fail to punch clear. It fell to Cruise who immediately set it into Craven’s path, and he found the net from 12 yards.
And two minutes later, Cristian Magerusan evaded his marker’s attention to glance home a Griffin free from the left flank and secure a memorable win in the Kingdom.