27th December
It was a day when Dundalk should have put some daylight between themselves and the relegation zone. It was a day when people returned home for Christmas came out for maybe their only game of the season and a day when fans who had stopped supporting the club came back to see what the recent revival was all about. However when the occasion came and Dundalk for once suffered the pressure of being favourites we lost to a goal from a player who would have been playing for us were it not for the current financial crisis.
For Bray they had lost 8 in a row and Pat Devlins job was on the line . They had to battle and battle they did thus sending Dundalk to the relegation zone again. Peter Withnell and John Brennan missed out through injury for the Lilywhites and were replaced by Michael Harte and Brian Byrne who made his first start of the season. Padraig Gollogly after a towering display was suprisingly dropped and Kevin Brady returned to partner David Capper in defence. That was where the drama stopped and the game started. A game so devoid of excitement or entertainment that I need not go through it step by step I'll give you a brief rundown of the action.
Dundalk had two good chances in the game and that was it. The first was a comedy of errors which saw a Bray defender slip and leave David Ward in the clear. He advanced towards Walsh and his shot was powerful but straight. The ball was parried by Walsh but slipped through his legs and tricked towards the goal as Brian Byrne and two Bray defenders advanced but all three slid for the ball and seemed to miss it. The players ended up in the net but the ball didn't and it was clawed away by Walsh. Dundalk's other chance of the match came in the second half when a dummy by Shane Reddish left him with a good shooting oppourtunity but a great block by the Bray defender saw it go wide. Dundalk had corners and free kicks but never came close again.
In a fiery tempered game Bray outbattled Dundalk and had many good chances in the first half which were either saved by Steve Williams or put wide. The one that mattered came on 29 minutes when a right wing cross was knocked down by a Bray player and hooked into the net by Mick Doohan who had scored many an important goal at that end in the Dundalk colours. In the second half Bray had chances. Barry O Connor had a goal ruled out for offside and they had a good chance to seal it in injury time but the organised no nonsence Bray defence manned by the dominant Doohan were much more co-ordinated than the scattered Dundalk team.
Dundalk rushed Noel Melvin back from injury and into the front line for the last 25 minutes or so but Noel was only meant to be a link between midfield and attack so could never really get into the game apart from the occasional knock on. Campbell and McNulty were up for it but just weren't on song. Either were three players who have played well recently, namely Lee Thew, Shane Reddish and David Capper. Michael Harte is being wasted by Jim McLaughlin. It would have made sense to play Soupy on the right and Harte on the left but they played on opposite sides with Harte completely lost on the right. He was replaced as usual and must be frustrated with the disgraceful treatment he is getting from the management team. Brian Byrne is not quite match fit and it showed but with Withnell and Brennan out we had no other option. Hopefully he'll improve for having played the game and will be fully fit for next Sunday against Bohemians. We now lie joint bottom with Bohemians and while last week we were optimistic we must not get pessimistic after one appalling tired display which may have been the effect of recent exertions. Dundalk can get back on track if the battle hard next Sunday against Bohs. We've seen it done against Pats, Cork, Rovers and Derry. We know we are capable it is now time to reproduce that form again.
Steve Williams again wins the day after making the mandatory heart stopping save or two