The Tallaght pitch looked a little heavy after all the recent rain and the Hoops also looked heavy-legged as they went down to a spirited Bray side. Rovers had a decent start however with an O'Connor cross just eluding Twigg after 2 mins and a minute later Robinson's low shot forced O'Connor into a save. Five mins into the game Bray captain Mulcahy had a free-header at the back post but Duggan was well placed to save.
Some nice footwork from Baker on 16 mins set-up Robinson whose cross missed Twigg and O'Connor. Man of the match for Rovers Stephen Rice then sent Baker away down the left but Dessie attempted to turn onto his right foot and a defender got back to clear. Rice again was on hand to find Robinson on 20 mins and although his fine first touch got him past the defender his cross went behind Twigg.
The Seagulls had a good chance to take the lead on 25 mins when a corner led to a scramble in the box and Mulcahy's shot was cleared off the line by Rice. Rice was on hand again to set Twigg off on a run and his first time ball almost found Baker but a defender got across to clear. Cameron's volley was wide after 33 mins and Madden did well to disposses McCabe in a dangerous position at the other end.
Robert Duggan took a knock in the first period and was replaced at half-time by Barry Murphy.
Just after the re-start Cameron found Twigg on the left-hand side of the box and his first time shot was saved by O'Connor. Daragh Maguire made a fine intercepting tackle to deny Byrne a shot on goal on 51 minutes as Bray upped their game. The visitors got their reward on 55 mins when a corner went to the back-post and Foran was allowed to head across goal for Massey to force the ball home from close range.
Rovers responded two mins later when Purcell turned well but his shot flashed across the face of the Bray goal. Madden then crossed deep for O'Connor to head down but Purcell shot straight at the Bray 'keeper. On 63 mins a Sean O'Connor free-kick went narrowly over the bar before a nice one-two involving Rice and Bradley almost got Twigg in on goal.
Robinson's cross saw O'Connor's diving header blocked but at the other end Barry Murphy had to dive to his left to save Kavanagh's curling free-kick. Rovers struggled to make any clear cut chances and as the game entered the last five minutes a Rice free-kick was claimed by O'Connor under pressure from Maguire.
The Bray 'keeper was on hand again a minute later to take Cahill's cross and with three mins of normal time remaining Shane Robinson chased a through ball and clashed with the Bray 'keeper but the ball broke kindly for the Bray defence.
As the game entered the alloted three minutes of added-on time Bradley sent Purcell away down right but the Hoops substitutes first touch wasn't great and the chance was lost. Purcell's long ball sent Twigg on a run but the Bray 'keepr advanced a long way out of his area to cap a fine performance to clear the ball and deny the Hoops a final chance to salvage a point.
