St Patrick’s Ath. 3-2 Bray Wanderers
ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC continued their average of three goals a game at Richmond Park with a 3-2 victory over a resilient Bray Wanderers in Inchicore this evening.
Chris Forrester opened the scoring for the Saints after a quarter of an hour, and although Bray hit back through Jake Kelly, Fagan netted a double in the second half to take his tally to 15 league goals. Kelly did register a second of the game with brilliant free-kick as the game entered its final period, but Saints held on to take three vital points.
Conan Byrne struck the top of the Bray crossbar with a corner-kick after just three minutes, and Christy Fagan had the ball in the net 60 seconds later, but James chambers, who provided the assist, was offside. Shortly after that Bray’s Ismahil Akinade controlled Adam Hanlon’s pass brilliantly before racing for the Pat’s goal, only to see a heavy second touch allow Brendan Clarke to gather.
The direct ball to Akinade was something of a trend in the opening period, and the former Saint won his fair share of possession against the make-shift centre-half pairing of Ger O’Brien and Derek Foran.
The homeside began to express their passing attributes after that, and when James Chambers found Conan Byrne out on the right with a delightful curved pass, the winger teed up Chris Forrester at the near post for his eighth goal of the league campaign.
The champions continued to fizz the ball around as the half unfolded, but the five-man midfield of Bray stood firm, with two long-range efforts from Byrne the only attempts of note on Stephen McGuinness’ goal.
At the other end, Wanderers were struggling to create much in the way of scoring opportunities. However, they upped the tempo in the last five minutes of the first half, and were rewarded through a well-worked goal. Akinade linked up with Graham Kelly on the right, and as he drifted inside he delivered a reverse pass to Jake Kelly who guided his low shot under Clarke from close-range.
The second half began with Liam Buckley’s men pressuring from the right, and both Killian Brennan and Chambers had strikes blocked before the latter delivered for Fagan to head home his 14th goal of the season.
And Chambers was involved in the Saints’ third when he back-heeled substitute Mark Quigley’s pass into the path of Fagan who picked out the bottom corner with a little over a quarter of an hour remaining.
With that slick move still fresh in the mind, Jake Kelly then stepped up to register a sublime free-kick to reduce the deficit to one. The former Pat’s man effortlessly guided his shot over the wall and into the top left-hand corner. A nervy final few minutes for the champions ensued, but they dug in and held off the advances of a Bray side that have much to be positive about.
ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC: Clarke, O’Brien (c), Bermingham, Foran, Bolger, Byrne, Fagan (Lynch 84), Brennan (Brennan 72), Chambers, Forrester (Quigley 69), McCormack.
Substitutes: Gilmartin, Quigley, Fitzgerald, Lynch, Kavanagh, Fahey, Verdon.
BRAY WANDERERS: McGuinness, McGill, S O’Connor, Maloney, Zambra (c), Kelly, O’Neill (Scully 60), Kelly, Akinade, Hanlon.
Substitutes: Sheridan, Scully, Mitchell, Cooney, Byrne, Brown, Hurley.
Airtricity League Premier Division results
UCD 0-2 Shamrock Rovers
Drogheda United 1-2 Sligo Rovers
St. Patrick’s Athletic 3-2 Bray Wanderers
Cork City 3-0 Limerick FC
Derry City 2-2 Dundalk
Bohemians 2-2 Athlone Town
