It is advantage Bray Wanderers in the First Division play-off semi final first leg as they emerged as deserved victors over UCD with an impressive 2-0 win at the Carlisle Grounds.
With 1,205 onlookers braving the blustery conditions, goals from Guillermo Almirall and Cristian Magerusan ensured the Wanderers take a healthy advantage to the UCD Bowl on Monday afternoon in what promises to be a fascinating return contest as both sides renew rivalries hoping for the eventual opportunity to face Drogheda United - who had their relegation/promotion playoff faith sealed with Bohemians overcoming Sligo Rovers last Saturday.
The visitors actually started brightly and forced a number of well worked set -pieces. The closest of which was a well-drilled Sam Norval corner found Ronan Finn unmarked at the edge of the box but was bravely held by Cole Omorehiomwan.
Although winless in their four encounters with the Students in the league, the full-strength hosts responded well to the slow start and took control of proceedings with right back Max Murphy flying forward with no invitation needed.
The former Shamrock Rovers and Bohs man saw his powerful strike dragged wide as a signal of intent of what was to come.
The home side then went closest to opening the scoring with less than a quarter of an hour played when the towering Omorehiomwan rose highest in a crowded area but headed straight at Kian Moore from just a few yards out.
And just two minutes later they got a deserved lead when Kieran Cruise took on all-comers on the left side before delivering a devilishly whipped low ball into the corridor of uncertainty between goalkeeper and defenders, eventually finding its way to the Spaniard Guillermo Almirall to tap home at the back post for his sixth goal of the season.
Willy O’Connor saw enough from his lacklustre side, who finished five points ahead of Bray, and made a double change less than 10-minutes after the break.
One of which, Ciaran Behan, almost had an instant impact collecting an Adam Verdon short free-kick before cutting cleverly inside on his left foot and forcing Jimmy Corcoran into a sharp stop low at his near post.
The home side hit back with Darren Craven unlucky to see his 25-yard curled effort sail just over Moore’s crossbar before the powerful midfielder seemed to get away with a challenge through the back of Sam Norval inside the area.
But it was another substitution who did have an immediate effect, Conor Knight, who delivered a smart low ball in from the right hand side into Cristian Magerusan who, in all one swift move, controlled on the run and finished into the far bottom corner with his second touch to send the home fans wild.
UCD piled forward for the remainder and introduced another striker in young Danu Kinsella-Bishop, who netted twice just yesterday for the college side in the CUFL, but as was the case throughout just failed to find the quality with the final ball to half the deficit ahead of Monday’s second leg.
Bray Wanderers: James Corcoran; Max Murphy, Kilian Cantwell, Cole Omorehiomwan, Zach Nolan (John O’Sullivan, 15’); Darren Craven, Harry Groome; Guillermo Almirall (Conor Knight, 68’), Kieran Cruise, Shane Griffin; Cristian Magerusan (Ben Feeney, 78’)
Subs not used: Stephen McGuinness, Jamie Duggan, Paul Murphy, Josh McGlone, Rhys Knight, Billy O’Neill, John O’Sullivan
UCD AFC: Kian Moore; Luke O’Regan, Eanna Clancy, Niall Holohan, Adam Wells; Ronan Finn; Sam Norval (Sean Brennan, 74’), Adam Verdon (Danu Kinsella Bishop, 83’), Jake Doyle (Ciaran Behan, 55’), Michael McCullagh (Stephen Mohan, 55’): Hugh Parker (Michael Raggett, 74’)
Subs not used: Dara Kavanagh, Alex Dunne, Donal Higgins, Harry Curtis
Referee: Mark Houlihan (Kildare)
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
