Bray Wanderers received a timely boost to their European qualification hopes with a 2-1 away victory over Galway United at Eamonn Deacy Park, but manager Harry Kenny was eager to play down talk of any continental challenges to come. Addressing the m
Bray Wanderers received a timely boost to their European qualification hopes with a 2-1 away victory over Galway United at Eamonn Deacy Park, but manager Harry Kenny was eager to play down talk of any continental challenges to come.
Addressing the media following the result, Kenny began by stating how ‘delighted’ he was to claim all three points, considering a nervy finish after a late fightback from the Tribesmen.
“Too close for comfort, particularly with the corner there at the end when they sent up their big goalkeeper – anything can happen when it’s a corner kick, it can bounce off anyone’s backside or anything like that. So, delighted to get out with that,” Kenny told reporters.
However, when asked whether he was dusting off his passport for European adventures to come, he laughed it off at first.
“We try not to mention this whole Europe thing – the only place in Europe I’m going to is on my holidays,” he joked.
“We’re just taking each game as it comes, and I genuinely mean that. We would have been happy to stay away from the relegation at the start of the season, so delighted with where we are. We’ve two really tough games coming up against Dundalk and Cork, so if we can get results there, we might start talking about Europe.
“We’re doing brilliantly, currently, to be up there but the league is definitely over,” the Seagulls manager stated.
Meanwhile, Galway boss Shane Keegan was in a sombre mood in the media huddle after full-time and lamented his side’s concession of what he labelled ‘poor goals’.
“The goals were really, really poor goals when you watch them back. They get a bit of luck with the deflection off our own attempted clearance, but as Anto Flood heads that ball into the back of the net, we had four players dotted around him and not one of them was able to get tight enough.
“The really frustrating thing for us is, we’re actually a very, very good back-line that seems to make one stupid mistake, at least, in every game.”
The result sees the Corribsiders now on a run of five league matches without victory and still stuck in the relegation zone which means that they are in dire need of points – however, with two tough games on the road against Dundalk, and against St Patrick’s Athletic on Friday, it doesn’t get any easier.
“We’ve beaten Dundalk this year, so there’s no way we’re going to head up there and just accept that we can’t get anything from the game – we can.
“There’s no doubt we’re aiming to go up there and try and frustrate and hit on the counter but at the same time we have to be realistic and say that next Friday night [against Pats] is as make-or-break as a game gets,” Keegan offered.
Trevor Murray
