with Brian Quigley, November 2013
Bray Wanderers sensationally clinched their League of Ireland Premier Division survival away to Longford Town on Friday, November 1. In a 2-legged play-off that was deadlocked at 2-2 after the first-leg in the Carlisle Grounds on Monday October 28, Wanderers won the return leg 3-2 to clinch a 5-4 aggregate victory and ensure the Garden County has Premier Division football for a record 10th successive year. Scorers for Bray on the night were Gary Dempsey, Kieran ‘Marty’ Waters and Kevin O’Connor. Wanderers led 1-0, 2-1 and finally 3-2 and had to endure an agonising 6 minutes of injury time before the final whistle was the cue for celebration time amongst the large travelling support. Wanderers had previously recovered some good form at just the right time. Back to back wins at home to Limerick and away to Bohemians saw them climb off the foot of the League of Ireland Premier Division and avoid the automatic relegation spot (Shelbourne ultimately occupied this spot). Pat Devlin’s men deserve credit for hitting form and holding their nerve at a critical point in the season. The end of season awards night on Friday, November 8 promises to be a great night!
With the season coming to a close for the senior side, the Bray U19’s will keep playing throughout the winter as they don’t follow a summer-soccer schedule. Their home games are every other week at noon on a Saturday in the Carlisle and admission is free. Well worth checking out.
Why not also try to get to some Leinster Senior League games this winter. The season is in full swing and Greystones AFC are leading the way for Wicklow in Senior Division 1. Arklow Town are also in this division while Greystones United and Wicklow Rovers have made solid starts in Senior Division 1a and 1B respectively.
