EIRCOM LEAGUE DIVISION ONE

4th December

Dundalk 1

DAVID CRAWLEY [PEN] 90

Bray Wanderers 2

ALAN BYRNE 18

COLM TRESSON 63

RTE made their first visit to Oriel Park this season tonight. Tomorrow night viewers on Sunday Sport will see two superb goals from Bray and a consolation penalty from Dundalk in the dying seconds. However those short three snippets will not tell the full story of this match when Dundalk were taught the crucial lesson that in games of these importance when you get good chances you must take them.

Hopes were high in the Dundalk camp before the match. Brian Honan and David Ward tore the Wanderers defence apart in Bray in early October so Terry Eviston went for the same front pair tonight, with Anto Reilly who has looked slightly overawed in recent games dropping to the bench. The first 10 minutes saw both sides trying to get into the game but it already had the makings of a bad tempered encounter with several scuffles breaking out. The first good chance of the match was to come to Dundalk and to Brian Morrisroe on 15 minutes.

A lovely ball by Paul Campbell from the right went past the last defender and came to Morrisroe but he took one touch too many when he had a clear shot on goal and was closed down quickly by the Bray defenders, the chance had gone. This was one of the few contributions in the game by Morrisroe who had a night he will want to forget quickly. Just like Athlone his contribution was minimal.Despite the fact Bray had opened brightly it was still a great shock when they scored on 18 minutes when an innocuous throw on the right just inside the Dundalk half saw the ball break to Alan Byrne who from 30 yards hit an absolute screamer which gave John Connolly absolutely no chance. The Lilywhites panicked after conceding the goal, too often they resorted to long ball. Mick Doohan was winning everything in the air. He easily won the battle with Honan. David Ward who normally feeds off Honan flick ons therefore didn't see much of the ball. However someone with Wards pace and trickery is always going to get chances and surely enough he did on 35 minutes.

Dundalk, who had just lost John Whyte through injury had to reshuffle. David Hoey came on for Whyte and moved into the centre of midfield. John Flanagan then reverted to right back and on 35 minutes his hopeful ball forward was misjudged by a Bray defender and left Ward clean through on goal. The striker nearly had too much time to think about what to do and he didn't look at all comfortable as he approached the penalty area. At this point he let the ball get away from him and as Walsh advanced all Ward could do was hit the ball low and hard, and straight at Walsh. Ward had another chance before half time when his half volley from outside the box was shot straight at Walsh. However Dundalk would have gone 2-0 down on 40 minutes if David Hoey had not made a brilliant headed clearance off the line after the unmarked Mick Doohan rose to head a Farrell corner goalwards. Kieran O Brien squandered another Bray chance on 43 minutes when he shot wide. However the game which had been threatening to boil over during the first half which featured many yellow cards finally exploded before half time when Tom McNulty went to retrieve a ball after a free kick was conceded. He started arguing with Bray forward Paul Keegan who threw McNulty to the ground. Several players got involved, any one of which could have got yellow cards but John Stacey, making his first appearance of the season in Oriel Park decided to send off Keegan with a straight red card while McNulty received his marching orders for a second bookable offence. McNultys booking must have been for trying to intimidate Keegan in the first place because he spent most of his time on the ground when the fracas was going on.

At half time Dundalk replaced Brian Honan with Derek Delany. Dundalk reverted to 4-4-1 with Campbell moving into the centre of midfield and Delany slotting in on the right side of midfield. However all throughout the second half Dundalk looked like the team playing with 10 men, with Bray you hardly noticed the difference. The fact that some Dundalk players were clearly not contributing did not help. Morrisroe was nowhere in the second half and Gollogley was being given the run around by the Bray attack. In fact Dundalk hadn't created any real notable chances in the first 15 minutes of the second half when they let Bray through again. Kieran O Brien broke away from Gollogley in the area but was denied by a marvellous save from Connolly. The warning had been given. On 63 minutes though the Dundalk marking was non existent as a long free kick from just inside the Dundalk half by Maurice Farrell was volleyed first time by Colm Tresson past the helpless Connolly. The question Terry Eviston will ask is why was a Bray player left completely unmarked inside the Dundalk area. Once again though it showed that Bray were taking their chances. David Crawley and Paul Campbell both had free kicks for the home side which went over in the ensuing period and David Hoey made the occasional break through but for Dundalk it really looked like curtains. Just like in the first half a David Crawley corner was delivered perfectly inside the area but on this occasion Noel Melvin headed straight at John Walsh. In the first half it had been David Ward who headed wide with the goal at his mercy. Anto Reilly replaced Padraig Gollogley in a tactical decision. The striker then had a goal disallowed for offside.

In the 90th minute Dundalk got a consolation goal. Derek Delany tried to squeeze between two Bray defenders outside the penalty area and stumbled through the gap. A penalty was awarded. It was dubious to say the least but the ref must have been aware that the chances of a second goal were slim anyway. David Crawley stood up and blasted confidently past Walsh. Dundalk have scored twice from the spot this season, neither came at crucial times. Dundalk tried to make a half hearted comeback. Brian Morrisroe was making a good run down the left wing deep in injury time but David Crawleys pass failed to pick him out and Bray won the ball and advanced into the Dundalk half, it would not return to the Bray half again as the final whistle was blown 30 seconds later.

Maybe this result will wake Dundalk up. The last three weeks have shown signs of complacency in the Dundalk side. Maybe you can get away with it against lesser sides but Bray cruelly punished Dundalks mistakes. They came and played good football and took the three points home. They didn't try to walk the ball into the net like the Lilywhites did. Their goals came from speculative efforts which the home side would have been scared to attempt. David Ward will also have learned that against sides like Bray and in tight games like this when you get good chances you have to take them, against St Francis or Home Farm you might get a chance to redeem yourself later on. If and when Dundalk return to the Premier Division it will be the same scenario. Another disappointing aspect on the evening was the constant hoofing of the ball into the air by Dundalk. When they started to pass the ball around a bit later on gaps were created. On several occasions in the second half Dundalk players when receiving the ball from a throw proceeded to hammer it upfield looking for a break. In the first half with Honan there you at least have a target so it is nearly excusable. But in the second half when Ward and Delany and Morrisroe hardly the tallest players in the world are all you have to aim for then it is just plain stupid.

This is just one loss however, we took three points from Bray, they took three points here. There are now four teams tightly packed together at the top. The way Dundalk are playing at the moment they will take the points off the lesser sides. However it is now clear to all at Dundalk that when you are playing the top sides in this division they will definitely have to lift their game a notch, or else they will come away with nothing

DUNDALK FC

1 John Connolly 7

2 John Whyte 6

3 David Crawley 6

4 Tom McNulty 5

5 Padraig Gollogley 5

6 Noel Melvin 6

7 Paul Campbell 5

8 John Flanagan 5

9 David Ward 6

10 Brian Honan 5

11 Brian Morrisroe 4

SUBS

12 David Hoey 5 for Whyte

14 Derek Delany 5 for Honan

13 Anto Reilly 6 for Gollogley