Gregg ensures trip back to Bray

Soccer: Bohemians - 1, Bray Wanderers - 1: It may not have been the game we'd all expected, but then maybe Tuesday's replay at the Carlisle Grounds will produce the great showdown that this pair's ill-tempered clashes of recent years had primed us for. From Emmet Malone at Dalymount Park

By the end, though, it was probably as good as we could have hoped for: a lively cup tie that swung both ways and ended, gratifyingly, with neither side getting more than they deserved.

In difficult conditions Wanderers actually started rather timidly, but then they might have been content to let the differences within the Bohemians camp simmer, for the news yesterday afternoon that Trevor Molloy and Brian Shelley had agreed terms for their move to Carlisle United next season can hardly have been the sort of build-up Stephen Kenny was aiming for ahead of what was, given the club's league position, a crucial game.

Glen Crowe, on the other hand, had moved closer to a deal that will keep him here after the summer, which made it interesting as to which of the home side's star strikers would give an indication of their worth last night.

Both had their share of chances, with Molloy looking lively throughout while his partner's finishing was not quite up to his usual standard.

Stepehen Caffrey's, however, was several notches above his norm as the 26-year-old midfielder ably demonstrated four minutes into the second period when he turned on a Molloy throw from the right and buried the ball first time past Bray's Matt Gregg from a very tight angle.

It was no more than his side had been threatening, but it came in plenty of time for Bray to lift their game, something they started to do almost from the kick-off.

The greater pressure they exerted over the next 30 minutes almost paid off when Stephen Fox sent a wonderful, left-footed volley crashing off the inside of the goal's angle, and two minutes later Mick Doohan did fractionally better, turning the ball home after Eddie Gormley's corner had been helped on to the far post.

A game that never quite grabbed the attention in the first half had now become enthralling. The equaliser had come 14 minutes from time, and as the game moved into its closing stages Gregg again stood out as the hero for the visitors, rounding off an evening of good stops with a really magnificent one to stop a close-range Avery John header.

As the seconds ticked away Bohemians pressed hard to grab a late winner, but their hopes of avoiding a replay disappeared in injury time when Harkin's curling shot from 15 yards came harmlessly off the right hand post.

It was high tempo stuff and a far cry from the disappointingly one-sided game that appeared to be unfolding though the early stages of the evening.

The start was certainly low key enough, although given the intensity of the build-up it was only to be expected that the two sides would approach the opening exchanges a little cautiously.

What chances there were came from Bohemians, who were much quicker to settle into some sort of pattern and who might well, by the quarter hour, have found themselves in front.

Molloy, remembering perhaps the ease with which he had skipped into the area in the third round defeat of Cobh, was first up for a crack at Matt Gregg, who did well to parry a shot that followed a neat run from the left, even if it was largely good fortune that the loose ball subsequently ran just behind the fast-approaching Glen Crowe.

Not long after Harkin had a similar effort from the other side saved in much the same way, but with 15 minutes played the Englishman had to react a good deal more decisively to turn Dave Morrison's longer range strike just over.

The pattern for the first half firmly established, the major surprise over the next 30 minutes was the failure of the home side to turn a considerable superiority into a lead to take to the dressing-room.

Molloy came closest, rounding Gregg only to have a shot, struck while under pressure from Jody Lynch, cleared a couple of yards short of the line by Matt Britton.

It was a squandered opportunity by the Cumbria-bound striker, but Morrison's outstanding finish soon into the second period and so much of what followed ensured that it would not be too greatly lamented by the end of the night.

BOHEMIANS: Russell; O'Connor, Hawkins, Hunt, Webb; Harkin, Caffrey, Hunt, Morrison (Folan, 85 mins); Molloy, Crowe.

BRAY WANDERERS: Gregg; Doohan, Tresson, Lynch, Keogh; Britton, Gormley, Fox (Morgan, 85 mins); Byrne, Keegan, Forsyth (63 mins).

Referee: D O'Hanlon (Waterford)