REPORT: SSE AIRTRICITY MEN’S FIRST DIVISION
MATCHDAY 12: Bray Wanderers 4-2 Kerry FC
Kerry FC were on the road again for the second Friday in a row as they took on Bray Wanderers in the Carlisle Grounds in Wicklow. Kerry came into the game off the back of two tough defeats during the Bank Holiday weekend, as they failed to take any points from the games against Finn Harps or Cobh Ramblers. Bray, on the other hand, were in red-hot form coming into this one, as they were on a six-game win streak, beating the likes of Treaty United, UCD, and Longford Town.
Kerry FC had a few positives to take from Monday’s defeat at home to Cobh, as their second-half display was much improved compared to the first. A lot of chances for the home side and an unawarded goal could have changed the complexity of the game with the time remaining.
In the nine previous meetings between the two sides, Bray have won eight, with only one draw since the sides first met in 2023. On paper, it looked as if only one result was on the cards for the travelling support from the Kingdom, but they remained hopeful as they made the three-and-a-half-hour journey from Kerry.
FIRST HALF
Kerry FC had the opening chance of the game when a long-range effort from Sean McGrath was deflected out for a corner, but it unfortunately came to nothing.
Bray took that early chance for Kerry FC and raised them a goal, as Danu Kinsella Bishop opened the scoring after just eight minutes. Billy O’Neill got free along the right flank. He crossed from the endline, which took a deflection, and it dropped at the back post, with Kinsella Bishop stooping to score with a header.
Just three minutes later, things went from bad to worse for Kerry FC, as Bray doubled their lead. O’Neill again showed great pace to burst past two defenders out wide, and his low ball picked out Cian Doyle to put the home side two goals to the good.
Daniel Okwute nearly cut the lead in half after twenty-two minutes when his shot, close to the same angle as his goal against Finn Harps, hit the far post. Four minutes later, a quick move from a Sean O’Connell free-kick found Okwute again, but his cross into the area was caught by James Corcoran between the sticks for Bray.
Bray nearly added a third ten minutes before half-time, as a goal-bound cross was missed inside the area by Kinsella Bishop, and his effort went wide. Kerry FC made three early changes in the first half, as Conor McCarthy was not happy with what he was seeing. Kerry were much better after said changes and hoped that it would spur them on even further going into the second half.
SECOND HALF
Five minutes into the second half, Sean McGrath had Kerry FC’s first opportunity, as his shot from outside the area had little power and bobbled into the arms of Corcoran.
Just a minute later, Bray looked to have sealed all three points with a second on the night for Danu Kinsella Bishop. Cian Doyle turned provider, as his low cross from the left was converted at the near post, close in, by Bray’s number twenty-two.
Four minutes later, Bray thought they had a fourth, as a goal for the Seagulls was disallowed inside the area for a foul on Tim-Oliver Hiemer.
Daniel Okwute had another good chance in the fifty-seventh minute, as his shot inside the box was saved by Corcoran. It was an easy save in the end, as Daniel’s shot was tame due to the pressure put on him by a Bray defender.
With ten minutes to play, Ryan Kelliher pulled one back for Kerry FC. Daniel Okwute delivered a ball low from the left endline for Ryan to tap in.
It seemed like nothing more than a consolation until Ryan pulled another one back two minutes before the ninety. Ronan Teahan crossed the ball from the left endline for Kelliher to score with a glancing header back across the goal. Five minutes were added on, and there was now a belief in the Kerry FC side that they could snatch a point from what looked to be an impossible position.
Despite the flurry of late goals from Kerry FC, Bray would put the finishing touches on the game and wrap up the three points with a fourth goal, this time from Cian Curtis. Curtis applied a lovely touch to the bottom corner of the net after good work by Calum Costello on the right wing.
Another tough defeat for Kerry FC on the road, and it doesn’t get much easier as they now look ahead to next Friday, when they take on UCD AFC in Dublin next Friday night
BRAY WANDERERS TEAM: 1. Jimmy Corcoran, 2. Max Murphy, 4. Killian Cantwell (C), 6. Harvey Warren, 7. Conor Knight, 8. Rhys Bartley, 12. Jamie Duggan, 17. Cian Doyle (GOAL ‘11), 19. Billy O’Neill, 22. Danu Kinsella Bishop (GOAL ‘8, ‘51), 32. Richard Ferizaj.
SUBS: Stephen McGuinness (GK), Guillermo Almirall, Thomas Considine, Cian Curtis (GOAL ‘90), Jordan Tallon, Alain Kizenga, Rhys Knight, Calum Costello, Benjamin Fagbemi.
KERRY FC TEAM: 1. Tim-Oliver Hiemer, 2. Alex Dunne, 5. Chris McQueen, 20. Abel Alabi, 29. Steven Stanic-Floody, 28. Niall Brookwell, 7. Sean McGrath (C), 11. Daniel Okwute, 21. Luke Palmer, 10. Joe Adams, 9. Ryan Kelliher (GOAL ‘81, ‘88).
SUBS: Mathyas Randriamamy (GK), Kevin Williams, Cian Brosnan, Samuel Aladesanusi, Sean O’Connell, Carl Mujaguzi, Ronan Teahan, Robert Keane, Oran Crowe.
