Sporting Fingal 2 – 0 Bray Wanderers

Sporting Fingal have moved 1 step closer to making it up into the League of Ireland Premier Division after a hard fought 2-0 victory over Bray Wanderers on a pitch that could only be described as a swamp in the rainy conditions in Santry. This game really and truly should have been called off after a pitch inspection showed it was amongst other things totally dangerous, I’m sure TG4 got the final say in that. The match began with some slipping and sliding from both sides and credit to referee Derek Tomney he handled the game excellently. Bray Wanderers should have taken the lead just on six minutes, Fingal keeper Quiggley took an early dive or slip to try and save Dane Massey’s lovely strike but it went off the left post so un-lucky for them.

The second half showed a change of pace, skill and even players and referees kits. Sporting Fingal broke the deadlock after six corners in a row. On the 6th corner Conan Byrne whipped in a lovely ball which fell to Stephen Paisley and his shot just about made it over the line. Fingal did double their lead when Byrne latched onto a superb cross-field ball from Lorcan Fitzgerald and smashed his shot past O’Connor with 23 minutes remaining, which almost lifted the roof off the home stand with a massive roar from the over 700 capacity crowd. After that it was just both teams slip sliding all over the place to leave the place in bits and the advantage very much in Sporting Fingals hands ahead of Mondays replay in the Carlisle Grounds. Final score Sporting Fingal 2 Bray 0

After the game Sportspeak Caught up with Fingal Manager Liam Buckley and one of the goal scorers Conan Byrne:

Liam Buckley
 

Conan Byrne
 

Daniel "Pitchside" Pitcher Twitter: @DanFM104Sport About: Dan "Pitchside" Pitcher provides insight and commentary as the chief soccer and rugby correspondent for Sportspeak.