10 August, 2008
Our senior footballers progress to the next round of the
championship after the narrowest of victories over a tenacious and
dogged Tinahely side. In a drab and uninspiring encounter they
never got out of second gear and didn't produce the football that
we know they're well capable of. Playing with the wind in the first
half they were slow to settle and it was Tinahely who took the game
to Bray. But gradually we worked our way into the match.Paddy
Moynihan was winning great ball up front and Niall Gaffney was
razor sharp in his shooting, kicking four wonderful points. We were
beginning to exert our control on the game when Tinahely
worked the ball out of defence down the left handside of the field
and scored an opportunistic goal. This brought the teams back to
level terms and they went in at half time 0-6 to 1-3.
With the introduction of Thomas Walsh and Daragh O hAnnaidh
being switched to centre back we began to exert our authority on
the game.The experienced Brendan o hAnnaidh also came more and more
into the game .We now began taking the match to Tinahely and with
the extra pressure they began to foul more frequently .Johnny Kinch
was razor sharp in his free taking and scored four beautiful
points. .Half way through the second half Thomas Walsh
fielding a high ball took off on one of his typical solo runs and
blasted the ball to the back of the net.We were now cruising but
fair play to Tinahely they never gave up and with five minutes to
go they scored a goal that brought them back into the match. Niall
MacGraynor, back from a long term shoulder injury, popped over the
decisive point to give Bray a well deserved victory. Overall Bray
were the better team on the day.The objective was to get through,
it mightn't have looked pretty but we achieved our goal and now
progress to meet Blessington, Baltinglass or Rathnew.
