Bray W 0 Sligo R 3:HAVING STAYED in the top flight by the skin of their teeth last season, Bray's attempt to crash the party at : the top end of the table this time around has been one of the stories of the campaign. This week, though, Pat Devlin's side have been impolitely shown the door by more expected revellers.
After Dundalk scored five here on Tuesday night, the scale of last night’s defeat might, at first glance, seem like an improvement. But Sligo coasted through a terribly one-sided game.
Matthew Blinkhorn’s two goals in the opening 10 minutes effectively put the result beyond question before Wanderers had had the opportunity to ease themselves into things.
Through the 80 minutes that remained the visitors played well short of full throttle. So dominant were they in midfield, where both sides played five men, their back four’s workload was negligible.
It was near 70 minutes before Brendan Clarke had to make a save.
The lack of threat from the home side allowed Rovers to concentrate almost all of their efforts on attack, and Joseph Ndo, Alan Keane and Eoin Doyle all had their moments as they pressed forward in support of the lone striker.
The Englishman’s night had started brightly just four minutes in when he controlled a cross by Keane and finished smartly to the bottom right corner. Ndo set up the second, having also started the passing move that led to it deep in midfield.
Between the two, Alan Kirby would have had one as well if only he had been more ruthless about punishing Derek Prendergast’s carelessness in possession.
Doyle got his side’s third six minutes from time, with Ndo again the provider, after what was probably Bray’s best spell. Even that didn’t amount to more than a couple of corners and half-chances.
By the time he scored, Doyle had replaced Blinkhorn up front, and grabbing his 13th league goal of the season provided a reminder of just how menacing Cook’s men can be. It is the balance they have struck between defence and attack that is especially impressive, with last night’s win taking their tally to 10 goals and none conceded in six league games.
Most teams to have amassed statistics like that have included wins over Drogheda and Galway, but Rovers have those to come next before a clash with St Patrick’s that might play a significant part in the latter part of the title race.
BRAY WANDERERS: Gregg; S O’Connor, Prendergast, Mitchell, Massey; Dempsey; Doyle (McGuiness, 71 min), D O’Connor (O’Neill, 59 min), Shields, Zambra; Murphy (Mulroy, 71 min).
SLIGO ROVERS: Clarke; Keane, Peers, McGuinness, Greene; Ryan, Ndo; Cretaro (Horgan, 81 mins), Kirby (Ventre, 74 mins), Doyle; Blinkhorn (Dillon, 67 mins).
Referee: A Kelly (Cork)
