Resilient Drogs draw a line under horror show
Drogheda Utd 0 Bray Wdrs 0
HAVING spent 24 hours propping up the table, Drogheda jumped four places when holding free-scoring Bray to a score-less draw at United Park last Tuesday.
Pete Mahon’s decision to make sweeping changes to his team - six in all, albeit some enforced - proved justified as the Boynesiders produced a spirited display which drew a line under their hapless display at Turner’s Cross.
Gavin Brennan and Sean Thornton missed the game through illness, but Sean Brennan did start alongside brother Killian, with younger sibling Ryan lining out for Bray. Indeed, the Seagulls had all their big guns on show, including Gary McCabe who has scored just one goal fewer than the entire Drogheda squad this season.
But it proved to be a frustrating night for Harry Kenny’s team who never managed to unlock a resilient home side despite having scored in all their previous away league games. Indeed, goalmouth action was at a premium for most of the 90 minutes and at the halfway point the two teams had managed three attempts between them as defences dominated.
Drogheda’s solitary chance in the first half came when Thomas Byrne’s determination earned him a free kick, from which Killian Brennan curled the ball well over the bar. They engineered a couple of other promising situations, but deliveries from set pieces were generally poor and Peter Cherrie in the Bray goal remained untested.
At the other end Bray looked marginally more dangerous and there was an escape for Drogheda when Killian Brennan’s mis-hit clearance from a Dylan Connolly cross bounced off the chest of Aaron Greene in the six-yard area before flying harmlessly wide.
The away side’s best goal effort of the half came from Aaron Greene whose well-struck 20-yard effort in the 37th minute almost dipped under the bar, with keeper Stephen McGuinness beaten.
On the restart there seemed to be a little more zip about Drogheda’s play going forward and a searching pass towards the edge of the Bray penalty area by Killian Brennan was superbly nodded down by Byrne into the path of Marc Griffin. However, the striker hadn’t read the Tenure teenager’s intentions and a defender reacted quickest to clear the danger.
Bray responded with a low shot by Ryan Brennan which he pulled a yard wide of the target, and then McCabe registered their first effort on target, a tame free kick which was easily held by McGuinness.
But Drogheda were growing in confidence and Sean Brennan had an effort deflected behind for a corner after patient build-up play, with Adam Wixted at the heart of it, before Luke Gallagher shot into the side netting.
Bray started with four former Drogs and a fifth, Ger Pender, came off the bench and hooked Greene’s driven cross wide in the 79th minute. But after that it was pretty much all one-way traffic towards Cherrie and the most disappointing aspect was that the Boynesiders failed to test the former Dundalk keeper in those closing stages.
Ryan McEvoy had one effort deflected behind, Sean Brennan fired wide from long distance and substitute Mark Doyle headed a free kick over the bar from six yards, before the last chance went begging in the 88th minute. This time Doyle, Wixted and Sean Brennan combined, and the latter’s cross was missed by Griffin at the near post before Stephen Dunne slid in behind him to fire wide.
Overall, it was poor enough fare and any neutrals will no doubt grumble about what was Droghe- da’s first scoreless home draw in the league since 2013, but it was a useful and well deserved point against a Bray team who would have gone level with Dundalk in second place had they won.