19.45 13 Mar 2015 -
Referee: Derek Tomney
League Preview: St Patrick's Athletic -v- Bray Wanderers
- Aaron Gallagher
- Thu, Mar 12 2015
ST. PATRICK'S ATHLETIC
This fixture represents St. Patrick's Athletic's first home game of the new SSE Airtricity League campaign. After losing two consecutive games in a row, against Dundalk in the Presidents Cup and Shamrock Rovers in their league opener last Friday, Liam Buckley's men will be edging to fulfill the high expectations pinned on them for the forthcoming season in Friday's game in Inchicore.
Speaking about the loss to Pat Felon's Rovers last week, manager Liam Buckley said that weather conditions played a pivotal role in the 1-0 loss, with the heavy wind meaning that both sides couldn't play their preferred style of football.
“Last week was disappointing to lose, but the conditions had a huge influence on the game and both sides couldn’t play their game. We’ve moved on though in training this week and are fully focused on getting a result on Friday against Bray,” he told St.Patsfc.com
Pats will remain without injured captain Ger O'Brien as well as new signing Jason McGuinness for the game against Bray, but will welcome back Sean Hoare and Killian Brennan who were both serving one game suspensions.
BRAY WANDERERS
Bray go into Friday's game also on the back of two straight defeats. Alan Matthews' side will feel hard done by in their 1-0 loss away to Drogheda in their league opener, however their midweek away defeat to Crumlin United in the EA Sports Cup was a more concerning result with the visitors losing 4-2.
Although the Seagulls took the lead in the first-round tie against Crumlin, they ultimately crumbled in dramatic fashion against their Leinster Senior League opposition, conceding two goals in the final twenty-five minutes to lose the tie.
An optimistic outlook was adopted by Bray supporters only weeks ago as the new season lay on the horizon, however two defeats from two and being knocked out of the EA Sports Cup already may be worrying.
Hope may lie in Friday's fixture as any sort of result against Pats would likely be the kick-start that Alan Matthews' side needs to put their campaign back on track. However Bray's recent record against Pats does not look favourably on the visitors, Liam Buckley's side winning eight of the last 10 fixtures between the sides, with Bray conceding 23 goals and scoring 10.
Referee: Derek Tomney
MATCH STATS
This fixture a has tendency to bag goals in excess, with 159 goals scored between the sides in 59 games – an average of over 2.5 goals per game.
Pats have dominated this fixture in years of late, winning eight of the last ten games. However Bray may not be ruled out completely from getting a result in Friday's game if history is anything to go by. Bray recorded a shock 1-0 away win at Richmond Park in August 2012.
Saints striker Christy Fagan has a fantastic record playing against Bray, with the PFAI Player Of The Year scoring eight goals in his previous nine outings against the Seagulls.
BETTING
St. Patrick's 2/9, Bray 10/1, Draw 5/1
PREDICTION
St. Patrick's Athletic 3-0 Bray Wanderers
St. Patrick's Athletic
Injured: Ger O'Brien, Jason McGuinness
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Bray Wanderers
Injured: Unknown
Doubtful: Unknown
Suspended: None
About Aaron Gallagher
Aaron is a Dublin-based freelance writer currently studying journalism at Dublin City University. You can follow more of his work on Twitter @AaronGallagher8