Sport

Win not enough to lift St Patrick's clear

St Patrick’s Ath 2 Bray Wanderers 0 : ST PATRICK’S scored twice for the first time in the league since beating champions Bohemians…

Sat Oct 17 2009 - 01:00

St Patrick's Ath 2 Bray Wanderers 0: ST PATRICK'S scored twice for the first time in the league since beating champions Bohemians in early June, but it wasn't enough to lift them out of the relegation play-off places.

Goals in each half from Ryan Guy and captain Damian Lynch inflicted a sixth defeat in seven games on bottom-of-the-table Bray, who can now only make a play-off at best.

But Eddie Gormley’s side came to Inchicore to play and they carved S. Patrick’s all too easily open on three minutes. John Flood and Paul Byrne put Jake Kelly through on goal, but the winger sliced wide with only Brendan Clarke to beat.

Bobby Ryan, on the left of the St Patrick’s front three, lifted the home crowd, following up a double step-over, by firing marginally over the bar from 25 yards.

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If that was ambitious, Declan O’Brien might have done better on 16 minutes when hooking over, albeit at a stretch, just yards out from Guy’s delivery from the right.

An open game had Bray responding within two minutes with Clarke having to parry away at full stretch from Gary McCabe’s crisply struck half-volley.

Poor defending at the other end would gift St Patrick’s the lead on 31 minutes. Stephen Maher got forward from right back to cross and Guy, unmarked, rose to head firmly to the corner of the net with O’Connor flat-footed.

But O’Connor would be right on his toes eight minutes later to prevent St Patrick’s doubling their lead. Bray captain Derek Pender was booked for tripping O’Brien as he ran through onto Gary Dempsey’s incisive pass. But O’Connor dived the right way to push away Dempsey’s well-struck spot kick.

St Patrick’s added their second killer goal on 68 minutes when Gareth O’Connor’s corner was headed home by Lynch.

Bray had a chance to get back into it on 84 minutes when Jason Gavin handled a Dave Mulcahy shot, but Clarke matched O’Connor by diving the right way to save Stephen Brennan’s penalty.

ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC: Clarke; Maher, Gavin, Partridge, Stevens (D Ryan, 56 mins); Lynch, Dempsey (Lester, 66 mins), O'Connor; Guy, O'Brien (Fitzpatrick, 80 mins), B Ryan.

BRAY WANDERERS: O'Connor; Pender, Deans, Webster, Doyle; McCabe (Tresson, h/t), Brennan, Mulcahy, Kelly (Massey, 64 mins); Byrne, Flood (Shields, 41 mins).

Referee: Damien Hancock(Dublin).