Bray Wanderers rose to fourth place in the table on Friday night following a hard-fought 2-1 win over Treaty United at the Carlisle Grounds.
Kieran Cruise gave the Seagulls an early lead before Peter Grogan doubled their advantage just before the half hour mark.
But Treaty battled gamely and halved the deficit in the second half through Leon Kirrane - although it was not enough to salvage a point.
Seeking a third league win on the spin for the first time since May 2021, Bray Wanderers started the better of the two and took the lead inside just seven minutes.
Cruise - who joined Bray during the off-season from Shamrock Rovers - opened the scoring with a toe-poke finish on the edge of the box.
Ireland under-19 international Freddie Turley found the left-back after following a throw-in, and Cruise made no mistake in scoring.
Wanderers exerted heavy pressure on the visitors following their opener and dominated the play.
But they were almost sucker-punched by Tommy Barrett's troops in the 22nd minute when Mark Walsh curled an effort just wide of Stephen McGuinness’ goal.
However, Bray did not have to wait much longer to score a second and it came just three minutes before the half-hour mark through Grogan.
The Carlow teenager tapped home with a good finish after he was found unmarked in the box by Conor Knight’s cross after Treaty full-back Oisin O’Reilly was dispossessed.
Stung by that setback, the Shannonsiders did their best to get back into the game before the interval and almost did on two occasions through Alec Byrne and Walsh.
Byrne was found by his namesake Mark with a quick free kick before pulling his effort wide of goal.
Their best opportunity came through Walsh as he skewed an effort horribly over the bar after Bray failed to clear a corner-kick well enough - leaving them 2-0 behind at the interval.
But Treaty maintained their strong end to the opening half in opening exchanges of the second - and they should have at least halved the deficit on three occasions.
Striker Yoyo Mahdy had their first opportunity of the half as he attempted an audacious lob over Seagulls keeper McGuinness that was saved.
Walsh then went close after pickpocketing Bray on the edge of the box but opted to drill his effort into the ground that McGuinness saved well.
And just before the hour mark, Walsh saw his header tipped over the bar by McGuinness after he was found by Stephen Christopher’s wicked delivery into the box.
They were not to be denied as substitute Leon Kirrane gave them a lifeline with just over 15 minutes to play.
Robbie Lynch played a ball into Kirrane’s path on the edge of the box and he managed to fire a thumping finish into the top corner.
But that was as good as it got for them as the Seagulls held out for a valuable victory.
Bray Wanderers: Stephen McGuinness; Killian Cantwell, Kieran Cruise (Zach Nolan 90), Max Murphy, Evan Osam; Shane Griffin, Harry Groome (Callum Thompson 76), Conor Knight (Darren Craven 61), Paul Murphy, Freddie Turley; Peter Grogan (Cristian Magerusan 61).
Treaty United: Corey Chambers; Robbie Lynch, Oisín O'Reilly, Ben O'Riordan, Mark Walsh; Mark Byrne (Thomas Considine 55), Alec Byrne (Mark Murphy 67), Stephen Christopher (Nikodem Kozlowski 79), Lee Devitt Molloy, Scott Kirkland (Leon Kirrane 67); Yousef Mahdy (William Armshaw 55).
Referee: Lucas Keating.
Meanwhile, UCD returned to winning ways with a 3-2 win over Wexford at Ferrycarrig Park.
Niall Holohan opened the scoring for the Students before Cian O’Malley levelled matters midway through the first-half.
But Jake Doyle put Willie O’Connor’s side back in front before the interval, while Adam Verdon sealed the deal with a 67th minute hit. Cian Curtis netted a late consolation for Wexford.
Cobh Ramblers also ran out 2-0 winners over Finn Harps at St Colman’s Park.
Gary Hunt’s side were seeking a response following last weekend’s 4-2 loss at home to Wexford.
And they got it with Matthew McKevitt and David Bosnjak on target.
Elsewhere, Athlone Town came from behind to defeat Kerry at Mounthawk Park.
Kennedy Amechi scored from the spot to put the Kingdom ahead but goals from Ruben Candal and Carl Mujaguzi turned the tie in their favour.
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