U17 Match Report – Shelbourne 1 Bray Wanderers 4

Shelbourne 1 Bray Wanderers 4

Three first half goals saw Bray claim a memorable EA SPORTS MU17 LOI Academy victory.
Up against the defending U17 champions Shelbourne on Saturday afternoon, Wanderers picked up their first win of the 2023 season courtesy of a 4-1 triumph at the AUL Complex in Dublin.
Having started with an away draw last week against Wexford FC, the Seasiders started strongly and piled on some good pressure in the early exchanges. It only took eight minutes for the deadlock to be broken.
Bray’s left winger Dylan Ryan was played through on goal and finished cooly past Shels netminder Rocco Byrne.
The Reds then came into the game and had a lot of possession without troubling Wanderers custodian Alex Kearney too much.
On the half hour, the Wicklow outfit doubled their lead. After excellent combination play between Paddy Kildee-Dolan, Lewis Jacobs and Phil Cooney, Jacobs applied the finishing touch for a wonderful team goal.
With half time approaching, the Seagulls won a free-kick 30 yards out. Left-back Ronan Dawson stepped up and produced a brilliant dead-ball out of the top drawer to make it 3-0.
The second half though was a much more even affair. The hosts pulled one back in the 65th minute after Caleb O’Neill was adjudged to have fouled just inside the box. Kearney got a hand to the ball but it wasn’t enough to keep out Dan Ring’s spot-kick.
Both teams had further chances to add to the scoreline after that. But the visitors finished strongly.
In the 75th minute, Cooney put the result to bed, finishing superbly from just inside the Shelbourne box to make it 4-1.

Bray Wanderers: Alex Kearney; Ronan Langan, Alain Kizenga, Caleb O’Neill, Ronan Dawson; Dylan Ryan, Eric Schütte, Paddy Kildee-Dolan; Lewis Jacobs, Philip Cooney, Adam Reid.
Subs: Jack Nolan, Harry Sherlock, Kian Dowling, Alex Baines, Aidan Kane, Ethan Cheese, Rhys Knight, Max Colbert, Alex Forde.

* With no game next week due to the international break, Bray are next out on Saturday March 18 at home to Waterford FC. Kick-off at Ballycorus is set for 2.00pm.