Bray Wanderers Match Preview
League of Ireland First Division
Treaty United
Friday February 17
Markets Field
Kick-off 7.45pm
Bray kick off their 2023 First Division season on Friday with an away trip to Limerick to take on a Treaty side who’ve made the play-offs twice over the past two years.
But a new-look Wanderers will be aiming to get a positive result at the Markets Field after a solid 3-0 success over New Oak Boys last weekend in the Leinster Senior Cup.
On the opening day league fixture, Head Coach Ian Ryan stated “It’s what we’ve worked for since pre-season last month; what we’ve planned for since January. There’s a buzz; great excitement to finally get going. We are looking forward to heading there on Friday.”
With no less than ten competitive debuts handed out in Carlow last Sunday, the 35-year-old went on to say “It’s a tough opener for us, make no doubt about it. Treaty have done well over the past two years, making the top-five each time. They are a hard team to break down. They’ve one of the top goal scorers in the league in Enda Curran. So, it is going to be really difficult. But everybody on their day can beat each other in this Division. We’ll go there with plenty of hope.”
He continued “We’ve got good belief in the squad. We know what we are capable of, and what we can do. More importantly, what the players can do. We will go there with a bit of plan. Then it’s about giving the players a bit of a platform to showcase what they are about. Individually, we have some really talented players.”
Team News
Team Captain Dave Webster and winger Darren Craven are recovering from injury and not expected until back in action until March.
But striker Jake Walker is available after being cup-tied in the Leinster Senior Cup. After recovering from knocks, Luca Lovic and Len O’Sullivan both saw second half action against New Oak last week.
“Luca and Len, along with Eoin Farrell, have trained this week. So, hopefully they will be available for selection. Other than that, we’re good to go,” explained Ryan.