Derry City 2 Bray Wanderers 0: THE SECOND-HALF dismissal of Derry City centre-half Clive Delaney could have serious implications for the Foyleside club following this deserved win over Bray Wanderers at the Brandywell.
Indeed, with fellow defender Steven Gray expected to miss a number of matches after the break, the Foyleside squad is expected to be stretched.
However, last night’s deserved win sees Stephen Kenny’s men extend their unbeaten run to six matches and, with Cork losing to Dundalk, Derry moved four points clear of the Leesiders in second spot.
Derry got off to a superb start and when Bray failed to adequately clear their lines, Kevin Deery’s shot from 18 yards deflected off a defender, the ball dipping over the head of Bray goalkeeper Chris O’Connor.
The home side may have owned the ball for long periods in the first half but they failed to seriously test O’Connor until the 37th minute when doubling their lead.
On that occasion a low cross from the right flank was controlled by James McClean and when he set up Mark Farren, the striker swivelled to drill the ball low to the net from 14 yards.
Derry’s cause was not helped following the sending-off of Delaney, in the 75th minute. Referee Dave McKeon was well placed to see the centre-half’s kick-out at Bray’s Paddy Kavanagh and he produced a straight red card.
DERRY CITY: Doherty; O'Brien, Delaney, Hutton, McCallion; McGlynn, Higgins, Deery, McClean (McChrystal, 75 mins); Morrow (McManus, 87 mins), Farren (Martyn, 90 mins).
BRAY WANDERERS:O'Connor; Pender, Mulcahy, Brennan, Massey (Knight, 85 mins); Coughlan (Mulroy, 59 mins), Robson, O'Neill, Kavanagh, McCabe (Kelly, 68 mins); Byrne.
Referee:D McKeon (Dublin).
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