United gone beyond a joke as a limited Bray hit them for six!
Date Published: {J}
Bray Wanderers 6
Cian O’Connell
IT has been a traumatic campaign for Galway United, but few defeats will match Friday's Terryland Park loss to Bray Wanderers for pain as this was a miserable loss.
When a team of Bray's moderate ability depart from the banks of the Corrib six goal victors, there is no escaping the harsh and brutal truth that nearly every member of the current Galway squad isn't cut out for life in the Premier Division of Irish football.
Half an hour after the final whistle sounded a handful of people completed their chores, but all were doing so in silence, completely aware that top flight fare is unlikely to be on show at the venue next season. The recent evidence suggests that it will take a considerable spell for Galway to construct a competitive team because this reversal to Bray was shambolic.
To concede four goals between the 38th minute and the interval is worrying, but this particular United side have been breaking unwanted records of every kind this year and that trend continued.
All the statistics and mathematics associated with United make for grim reading. Eighteen Premier Division matches have occurred on the Dyke Road, but the home team have taken tjust wo points from a possible 54 which is in a parish past woeful.
One hundred and eleven goals have been conceded in 35 matches with a staggering average of over three per 90 minutes, and even that was surpassed when Bray came to town.
The saddest and most galling thing about Bray's triumph was that the visitors weren't even required to be that good to secure such an easy win. Galway's first half display was reasonable, but the 634 diehards who attended couldn't deny that it was Bray who were ruling the exchanges.
In the centre of the park, Gary Dempsey's experience dovetailed nicely with Graham Kelly's promise as Bray quickly established control. The opening quarter featured a string of Bray opportunities, but they weren't clinical enough initially even though that was rectified that as the evening lingered on.
Kieran Marty Waters carried a high nuisance value and the busy Bray front-runner was thwarted on two occasions inside the first 10 minutes by brave blocks from Laurence Gaughan and Eric Browne, while Jake Kelly, a constant menace on the left, shaved the woodwork on the quarter hour mark.
United’s only moment of note had been in the 13th minute when Bobby Ryan's cross located Oscar Sibanda, but the Zimbabwean was unable to control inside the area. The majority of the action was at the other end of the park with Conor Winn making a fine reflex save to deny Jake Kelly on 33 minutes, but quicky Bray bagged a brace to turn the match on its head.
For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.