Bray Wanderers 1 Shelbourne 6
Bray’s brave run in the LOI Academy U20 Enda McGuill Cup came to end on Saturday against Shelbourne.
Having beaten holders Galway United and St. Patrick’s Athletic at the Carlisle Grounds earlier in the competition, the Wicklow outfit fell to the Red’s at the same venue at the Quarter Finals stage.
The hosts began brightly, with Phillip Cooney shooting straight at away goalkeeper Cillian Campion Wigglesworth.
A home corner followed soon after, with Caleb O'Neill’s header sailing over the bar.
Despite some early promise, Wanderers suffered a setback on 39 minutes when they lost Ilya Bednakovs to injury after a collision with Campion Wigglesworth. The injury forced a reshuffle for the home team, with Dylan Ryan coming on to replace the injured forward.
Just a minute later, the visitors opened the scoring. Tyreik Sammy was picked out inside the box to finish coolly past Bray keeper Edvinas Jakas.
Bray’s problems mounted moments later when away attacker Daniel Ring broke free and raced through on goal. Jakas came rushing off his line to clear the ball, only to collide with Ring, leaving the home custodian requiring treatment.
The Dubliner’s doubled their lead in dramatic fashion in injury time. A well-timed pass set Sammy through on goal, and he made no mistake, finishing from a tight angle.
Jakas succumbed to injury and was replaced at the interval by Sam Baker.
The second half saw the Seagulls come out with renewed effort, but things quickly went from bad to worse for the hosts
The away club made it 3-0 on 70 minutes, as James Roche found the net after a swift counter-attack.
The Green and White’s pulled one back just a minute later, when an Ethan Cheese well-placed corner was met by Caleb O'Neill's powerful header.
However, any hopes of a comeback were dashed when Sammy completed his hat-trick in the 77th minute.
Ring then scored a fifth for Shelbourne just two minutes later, capitalizing on a lapse in the home defence.
Bray’s misery was compounded on 83 minutes when a long ball into the box saw O'Neill unfortunately head the ball past Baker.
In the dying moments of the game, Ring had the chance to add to Shels' tally. But he blazed a penalty over the bar.
Bray Wanderers: Edvinas Jakas; Alain Kizenga, Caleb O'Neill, Jack Nolan, Destiny Avenbuan; Joshua Kerr, Luke Nolan; Isaac Millington, Ethan Cheese, Phillip Cooney; Ilya Bednakovs.
Subs: Luke Smith, Max Mc Laughlin, Conor Lougheed, Darragh Butler, Abdurahman Bouderbala, Bradley Byrne, Dylan Ryan, Sam Baker.
Shelbourne: Cillian Campion Wigglesworth; Cillian Ryan, James Roche, Luca Cailloce, Daniel Mare; Aaron Moloney, Taylor McCarthy; Raymond Offor, James Bailey, Tyreik Sammy; Daniel Ring.
Subs: Fiachra Coffey, Alex Flynn, George Mosneagu, Aaron Keogh, Joey Wuna, Dylan Murphy, Adam Farrell, Patrick Brides, Ali Topcu.
Referee: Jason Ray. Assistants: Ihor Makarenko, Gregory Walls.
Pictures: Ethan Finnerty.
* Elsewhere in the Cup, Bohemians, Drogheda United and UCD all advanced to the Semi Finals.
* Bray return to the Carlisle Grounds on Tuesday July 29 when they host Drogheda United the EA SPORTS League of Ireland Tier 2 North section. Kick-off at the Carlisle Grounds is at 7.30pm.
In that section on Saturday, Derry City defeated Athlone Town 2-0 at Wilton Park. Dundalk also beat Longford Town 4-0 at Oriel Park.
The results mean that Dundalk (five games) and Finn Harps (four games) set the pace at the top of the table on ten points. Drogheda (three games) are third on seven points with Bray fourth (three games) on six points.
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