Match Report Bray Wanderers 0 Brentford FC Selection 3

An experimental Bray side went down to a Brentford B selection on Tuesday evening. In front of a crowd in excess of 1,000 fans, former Seagull Conor McManus returned to the Carlisle Grounds in the colours of the English club. In total, 18 players featured for the Wicklow side who lined out in the away Ryal Blue strip. The same number of players also saw game time for the visitors. 

 

Goalkeeper Ben Clark saw first team action for the first time since the season began. Leon Ajala and Zach Nolan occupied the two full back berths while Jamie Duggan was deployed in the heart of the defence. Rhys Knight started his first full senior game for the club. On the bench, U17 players Billy O’Neill and Phil Cooney made second half appearances. They were joined by U17 team-mate Luke Smith who featured for the first time with the senior panel. 

 

The Bees made their pressure count to break the deadlock in the 42nd minute. Having worked his way to the right byline, Kyreece Lisbie found the unmarked Morgan who headed in from close range. The visitors eventually doubled that lead in the 64th minute. The substitute pairing of Ethan Laidlaw and Max Dickov combined on the left flank before the Dickov forced a fine save from Clark. But the ball was parr ied into the path of Morgan with the forward tapping into an empty net. With three minutes of normal time remaining, the Londoners registered third score. Clark again pulled off an excellent reaction stop to thwart sub Isaac Holland’s low effort. But Laidlaw followed up to squeeze the ball over the goal-line. 

 

Bray Wanderers: Ben Clark; Leon Ajala, Kilian Cantwell (Paul Murphy 22 – Evan Osam 62); Jamie Duggan, Zach Nolan; Guillermo Almirall (Billy O’Neill 62), Harry Groome ((Darren Craven half time); Conor Knight (Phil Cooney 62), Rhys Knight (Luke Smith 62), Kieran Cruise (Thomas Morgan half time); Cristian Magerusan (Peter Grogan half time). 

Sub not used: Stephen McGuinness. 

 

Brentford B: Vincent Angelini (Reggie Rose 45), Kyreece Lisbie (Romeo Beckham 60), Conor McManus (Chanse Headman 82), Daniel Oyegoke, Benjamin Arthur, Ashley Hay (Isaac Holland 60), Angel WWaruih, Iwan Morgan (Beaux Booth 82), Riley Owen, Mukhammadali Urinboev (Ethan Laidlaw 60), Tony Yogane (Max Dickov 60). 

 

Referee: Aaron O’Dowd. Assistants: Fintan Butler, Conor Harkin. 

 

Pictures: Dermot O’Brien.