Bray stun Rovers
Rovers spurned a glorious opportunity in the 5th minute when the normally clinical Gary Twigg sidefooted wide from eight yards after clever approach play down the right wing by Gary McCabe and Pat Sullivan.
They were made to pay for their profligacy a minute later as an intricate passing move involving Gary Dempsey and David Webster culminated in O’Connor’s unerring drive from 20 yards into the top right-hand corner of Alan Mannus’ goal.
Despite the hosts enjoying the majority of possession, they looked strangely subdued in attack while Wanderers looked far more threatening and another free-flowing move in the 22nd minute saw Conor Murphy gather possession in acres of space but his curled attempt was too close to Mannus who collected easily.
Twigg’s hamstring injury in the 37th minute, which necessitated his replacement by Gary O’Neill, added to Rovers’ woes and a long-range Ronan Finn attempt which comfortably cleared the crossbar reflected their increasing frustrations.
The second-half continued in a similar vein with Rovers pressing without the genuine conviction expected from the league leaders which contrasted with a vibrant Bray who almost doubled their lead as both Murphy and Chris Shields went close a minute either side of the hour mark.
A scrambled Dean Kelly header which drifted wide of the far post on 79 minutes was the closest the Hoops came to restoring parity as Bray saw out the final 10 minutes with an alarming degree of comfort.
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Mannus; Sullivan, Murray, Oman, Stevens; McCabe (Sheppard, 58), Rice, Finn, Dennehy; Twigg (O’Neill, 37), Killduff (Kelly, 75).
BRAY WANDERERS: Quigley; Webster, Mitchell, Prendergast, Massey; Zambra, Dempsey, O’Connor (G Kelly, 50),J Kelly; Murphy (Mulroy, 75), Shields.
Referee: Derek Tomney (Dublin)
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