Bray Wanderers 2-2 Drogheda United

A penalty with six minutes left from Joe Kendrick secured a vital point for Drogheda United in an enthralling encounter against Bray Wanderers at the Carlisle Grounds on Friday evening.

The game was played in extremely sunny conditions, which actually made life slightly difficult for both sides as it was shining right on top of them. Nevertheless, it was the visitors who made the better start to the game, and Brendan McGill showed great skill to cut inside on three minutes to unleash a left-footed shot, which forced Bray goalie Brian Kane into a fine save.

The move didn't end there though, as John Flood crossed from the right, where Ryan Brennan arrived with a flying header than went narrowly wide. This was an early warning sign for Eddie Gormley's men, and they soon tightened up around the middle-third of the park.

Drogheda continued to threaten though, and had another good chance on 15 minutes when John Flood broke free down the left and pulled the ball back for Brennan, but he dragged his effort wide to the left of the Bray goal. This was Brennan's second good chance of the evening, but Kane deserves credit for coming off the line so quickly to limit the winger's options.

As the half wore on, Drogheda continued to enjoy the majority of possession, and yellow-cards to Shane O'Connor and Chris Shields meant that there was considerable degree of pressure on the home side. They came through this period quite well however, and even though Jamie Harris had the ball in the net ten minutes before the break, it was ultimately ruled out for offside.

Then, just when it looked like we were heading for a scoreless opening half, Bray hit their fellow strugglers with a double sucker punch. The first came on 44 minutes, when a defensive header from Alan McNally could only find its way to Jake Kelly, who volleyed home from a tight angle on the left from inside the area.

This was a major set-back to Darius Kierans' side, and they suffered a further blow a minute later when Kelly intercepted a Drogheda ball out of defence, before off-loading to Shane O'Neill who slotted low past Paul Skinner from close-in.

Given the way the first 45 minutes had gone, it was hard to believe that Drogheda were going in two goals behind, but Dane Massey also had a good opportunity just before Kelly's goal, so the warnings sign were there for the Louth men.

With this cushion behind them, Bray now had something to protect, but their hand was forced eight minutes into the second period when O'Connor was dismissed on a second yellow following an obstruction on Drogs left-back Joe Kendrick. With close to 40 minutes left to play, there was still plenty of time for Drogheda to get back into the game.

However, they were finding it hard to make the extra man count, and they weren't exactly bombarding the Bray goal in the way that one might expect. Indeed, Bray were looking as likely to get a goal as the Hunky Dory-outfit were, and had a couple of decent openings just after O'Connor's dismissal.

They actually had the ball in the net before the sending-off, but Robbie Doyle had moved a fraction early in his attempt to connect with the cross from his namesake Daire. Eventually though, playing with ten men did come against Bray, and Drogheda got one back on 79 minutes when McGill found the top corner with a left-footed piledriver from 20 yards.

This really cranked the pressure up on Bray, and the game was back on level terms just five minutes later when Kendrick coolly converted a penalty after veteran defender Colm Tresson had handled in the area.

As the game drew to a conclusion there were a couple of niggly incidents, with one of them leading to a straight red-card for Drogs substitute Jamie Duffy. The heated exchanges boiled over into the crowd, which was a pity as it was a very entertaining game of football which certainly couldn't be described as an overly physical game.

Bray Wanderers: Kane; Tresson, O'Connor, Webster, Massey; D Doyle, Shields, Kavanagh, Kelly (Mulroy '70); R Doyle, O'Neill (Georgescu '82).
Subs not used: Vickers, Byrne, Tuohy.

Drogheda United: Skinner; Treacy, McNally, B McGill, Kendrick; Crowley, Daly, Harris, Brennan; Flood (Duffy '67), Fitzpatrick.
Subs not used: Murphy, E McGill, Mantondo, Smyth.

Referee: Padraig Sutton (Dublin).
Extratime Man of the Match: Jamie Harris (Drogheda United).