AIRTRICITY LEAGUE Bray Wanderers 3 St Patrick's Atjhletic 2:PAT DEVLIN'S latest return to the dugout out at the Carlisle Grounds inspired the hosts to a remarkable win last night with two goals early in the second half by Jake Kelly costing the visitors top spot in the Premier Division.
The Dublin side actually enjoyed the bulk of the possession over the course of the evening and created the lion’s share of the scoring chances but in the end the difference between the two sides was that Wanderers took theirs to grab the points.
Shane O’Neill gave the hosts the lead after just nine minutes when Gary Dempsey lofted a ball over the St Patrick’s defence and the winger turned Shane Guthrie inside out before finishing well from just inside the area.
Pete Mahon’s men were level within two minutes, however, with Danny North pouncing to score from close range after Matt Gregg had parried an initial attempt on goal by David McAllister.
The travelling support must have presumed at that stage that the slight scare they’d been given was safely out of the way but as it turned out things were about to get an awful lot worse, not least because of the role played in the defeat by an old acquaintance.
Dempsey was impressive throughout against his former club, bringing composure to the heart of the Wanderers midfield and an edge to their set-pieces.
It was his free, indeed, that the third goal arrived although to be fair it still required quite a finish from Jake Kelly whose volley from five yards or so outside the area flew through a crowded area and past Gary Rogers.
By then Kelly had already restored the home side’s lead with an equally confident finish to the bottom left corner from closer range after good work by John Mulroy but it was the third that left the Inchicore outfit really chasing things.
Mahon tried to shake things up by bringing on Stuart Byrne and Jim O’Brien and St Patrick’s did manage to create a couple of decent chances to get themselves back into contention.
Deep into injury-time North did finally grab a second but it was too little too late with the locals barely kicking off before their third league win of the season was complete.
BRAY WANDERERS: Gregg; O'Connor, Prendergast, Mitchell (Webster, 31 mins(Massey, 94 mins)), Houston; Doyle, Demsey, O'Connor, Kelly (Zambra, 89 mins); Mulroy; O'Neill.
ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC: Rogers; Pender, Guthrie (O'Brien, 58 mins), Kenna, Lynch; McAllister, Mulcahy, O'Connor (S Byrne, 58 mins), Doyle; Faherty (Crawley, 78 mins), North.
Referee: N Doyle(Dublin).
