Bray Wanderers pay the penalty as Cobh Ramblers end winning streak

Bray Wanderers 1

A dream start turned into a nightmare for Bray Wanderers as they paid the penalty and kissed goodbye to their winning streak.

It took just two minutes for Peter Grogan’s hot streak to continue as he fired the Seagulls ahead to capitalise on some sleepy defending from Cobh.

The hosts hit back in special fashion on nine minutes through Beineon O’Brien Whitmarsh.

A golden chance to retake the lead was presented to Ian Ryan’s side on 63 minutes when Grogan won a spot kick, but Shane Griffin was foiled by Cobh shot-stopper Darragh Burke.

Ramblers would sneak ahead 120 seconds later as Dale Holland enjoyed a huge slice of luck to see his effort hit the back of the net.

Cobh was awash with celebration prior to kick-off as the club toasted their newly renovated St. Colman’s Park. But Peter Grogan quickly wiped the smiles off the home side’s faces.

Kieran Cruise had the ball on the left flank and popped it between his man’s legs. But he couldn’t keep hold of the ball and it ran loose. However, Cobh failed to deal with it, so Grogan pounced and swept home to make it five goals in five games for the Seagulls.

Bray had recorded three shutouts in their last four outings prior to the trip to Cobh but there was to be no clean sheet for Stephen McGuinness in the Rebel County. Seven minutes after hitting the front; they were pegged back.

Charlie O’Brien’s cross from the right was nodded away by Jamie Duggan and Beineon O’Brien met it with a thunderous drive from the edge of the area that left McGuinness with absolutely no chance.

Ramblers felt they should have had a penalty on 27 minutes. O’Brien and Evan Osam were going shoulder to shoulder as the former forced his way into the penalty area. Osam went to ground and, after not being awarded the foul, seemed to clamber onto the ball in a panic and it definitely appeared to make contact with his hand. Referee Mark Moynihan waved the appeals away.

On the half hour mark, a typically clever ball forward from Shane Griffin was let run across his body by Harry Groome before he snapped a half-volley goalwards and Darragh Burke had to be very alert to turn it beyond his far post.

A bit of route one football almost unpicked the lock for Cobh shortly before the break. Jason Abbott sent a booming pass forward and Matthew McKevitt was in hot pursuit on the shoulder of the last man. As he waited for it to bounce for him, Paul Murphy did fantastic to read the danger and hook it to safety with an outstretched leg.

Moments later, a Cobh corner was cleared to the edge of the area. Pierce Phillips met it with venom and his deflected strike whistled narrowly over.

Cristian Magerusan was the difference-maker last week when introduced by Ian Ryan midway through the second period, but he was called into action at the break in Cobh.

It was Cobh though that should have scored next. A free from deep fell to Phillips eight yards out. He fired away a shot that McGuinness had no time to react to and no right to save but save it he did; a true instinctive reaction.

McGuinness’ opposite number Burke wasn’t about to be outshone though. On 51 minutes, a deep cross from Kieran Cruise was met by the head of Grogan and it was going to creep in until Burke got down smartly to repel it.

Grogan then won Bray a spot-kick on 63 minutes. He danced into the area before being brought down by Brendan Frahill. Shane Griffin took responsibility for the 12-yarder, but Burke leapt to his right to make a full-length save and Cruise was unable to tuck away the rebound.

Two minutes later, Dale Holland looked as surprised as anyone else as his cross/shot took a deflection and completely wrong-footed McGuinness before rolling home.

If any Cobh fans were annoyed at Frahill for rather needlessly committing to a challenge on Grogan in the area earlier, he atoned for that error on 83 minutes.

Griffin swung in a free from the left. Burke, imperious otherwise, came out and flapped at it – injuring himself in the process. Grogan met it with a side-footed volley but Frahill somehow managed to swipe at it and clear it off the line to secure all three points for Cobh Ramblers.

Cobh Ramblers: Darragh Burke; Charlie O’Brien, Brendan Frahill, Dean Larkin, Cian Browne; Jack Larkin, Pierce Phillips, Dale Holland, Jason Abbott, Beineon O’Brien Whitmarsh; Matthew McKevitt.

Subs: James O’Leary for Phillips (70); Liam Kervick for O’Brien Whitmarsh (90+4). Not used: Senan Dorgan, Michael McCarthy, Justin Eguaibor, Nolan Evers, Dan McKay, David Bosnjak, Alessandro DeSanctis.

Bray Wanderers: Stephen McGuinness; Max Murphy, Jamie Duggan, Paul Murphy, Evan Osam; Conor Knight, Darren Craven, Harry Groome, Kieran Cruise; Shane Griffin; Peter Grogan. Subs: Cristian Magerusan for Knight (H/T); Thomas Morgan for Cruise (79); Zach Nolan for Osam (79); Guillermo Almirall for Craven (79); Zayd Abada for Morgan (86). Not used: Ben Clark, Callum Thompson.

Referee: Mark Moynihan.

Venue: St. Colman’s Park, Cobh.