Bray Wanderers heaped further misery on Shamrock Rovers as they picked up their first victory of the season against 10-men Hoops. Ronan Coughlan landed the decisive blow in the 53rd minute as he seized on a poor back-pass from Ronan Finn and calmly
Ex-Hoop Aaron Greene decided this dreary contest with a stunning 74th minute strike.
The atrocious weather conditions dictated the match and left both sets of players fighting an uphill battle from the first minute to the last on a night that Rovers finished with 10 men. The clearest opportunity of the first period arrived in the 41 minutes when Rovers were almost architects of their own downfall.
Wicklow native Aaron Bolger’s pass held up on the surface and it released Gary McCabe down the left flank. He crossed it low for Greene but the striker was beaten to it by the extremely brave Horgan who got a stray boot in the face for his troubles.
Conditions improved considerably in the second period but the damage had already been done to the pitch. Some delicious feet from Cameron King almost broke the deadlock – he took the ball from David McAllister and lifted the ball over a defender’s head but lost his nerve at the vital moment and scuffed it wide.
Teen striker Jake Ellis was introduced on 70 minutes and played centrally which meant a shift to the right for Greene and it paid dividends within four minutes. Buckley fed Greene on the right flank and he shifted inside, set his sights, and unleashed a rocket that flew past Horgan like a missile.
The pressure on Bray eased in the 79th minute when a late tackle from Trevor Clarke on Mark Salmon saw him receive a second yellow and the Seagulls held out for maximum points.
