Rovers  (0) 0  -     
Bray Wanderers (1) 1 - O'Connor 6'        
 
Airtricity League - Tallaght Stadium - Friday 8th April 2011 - ko 8.00pm

Hoops Line out
1 Alan Mannus
2 Pat Sullivan
3 Enda Stevens
17 Ken Oman
5 Dan Murray (c)
6 Stephen Rice
7 Gary McCabe 
9 Gary Twigg
11 Ciaran Kilduff
21 Ronan Finn
20 Billy Dennehy

Substitutes:  
10 Karl Sheppard
for McCabe 57'
13 Pat Flynn
14 Dean Kelly
for Kilduff 74' 
15 Paddy Kavanagh  
16 Ryan Thompson
19 Gary O'Neill
for Twigg 37'
22 Conor McCormack
 

The Hoops suffered their first defeat of the season as ex-Hoop Danny O'Connor struck early to ensure a disappointing night for the Tallaght faithful.

Rovers should have taken the lead in the 4th minute when a good interchange of passes between McCabe and Sullivan on the right saw the Hoops number 2 lay the ball back for Twigg but the Scotsman steered his shot just wide of the Bray goal.

Two minutes later a good move by the Seasiders set up O'Connor to shoot from the edge of the area and he smashed the ball into the top left-hand corner of the net.

The goal lifted the visitors and it wasn't until the 18th minute that Gary Dempsey fouled Dennehy 25 yards out from goal but the Kerryman hit the free straight at the wall.

Conor Murphy was an isolated figure up front for Bray and his shot on 22 mins was comfortably saved by Mannus. An Enda Stevens free-kick a minute later fell to Twigg in the box but there were too many defender around to get a shot on goal.

At the other end Kelly almost took advantage of some hesitency in the Hoops defence but his shot was blocked. A good move on 36 mins involving McCabe and Sullivan ended with Finn shooting wide on the right-hand side of the box.

Gary Twigg hobbled off in the 37th minute to be replaced by Gary O'Neill and three minutes later Pat Sullivan whipped in a free-kick from the right and although 'keeper Quigley dropped the ball there was no Rovers player on hand to take advantage.

The half ended with Ronan Finn shooting just wide from 25 yards out.

The home crowd expected a better Hoops performance in the second-half but six minutes after the restart Alan Mannus had to punch away Gary Dempsey's corner. On 57 minutes Pat Sullivan's long-throw was flicked on by Kilduff but O'Neills effort was blocked.

Enda Stevens was relieved to see Murphy shoot wide in the 59th minute and a couple of minutes later Shields set up Kelly but he missed the target from just outside the box.

On 65 mins a Dennehy free-kick saw Oman head down to Rice but he couldn't get a shot on goal. Sullivan saw his deep cross well taken by Quigley in the 68th minute as Rovers struggled to break down the resolute 4-1-4-1 Bray formation.

Billy Dennehy fired his free-kick on target from just outside the box on the right on 70 mins but Quigley was well placed to save.

Rovers continued to press but O'Neill couldn't get to Kilduff's cross on 72 mins but the Hoops had a great chance to draw level on 79 mins when a cross into the box fell for substitute Dean Kelly and he reacted well to head the ball goalwards but unfortunately inches wide of the left-hand post.

The last ten minutes saw Rovers exert more pressure on the Bray defence. Sullivan and Sheppard sent in crosses but the visitors defence stood firm. Dennehy's corner on 84 mins saw Oman head wide at the back post under pressure from a number of defenders.

A final push from Rovers saw half-chances fall to O'Neill and Oman and in time added-on the ball fell for O'Neill in the box but he needed a touch to set himself up to shoot and Quigley advanced to claim the ball.

The final whistle sounded seconds later and despite the best efforts of the Rovers players they didn't do enough to unlock a resolute Bray defence.