Published: Wednesday, 3rd March, 2010 5:00pm

Late Kelly goal denies Athlone in cup clash

Bray Wanderers 2 Athlone Town 1

A goal in the 88th minute from Bray midfielder Jake Kelly saw Athlone Town narrowly lose their first competitive game of the season, when they made the trip to the Carlisle Grounds for an opening round Leinster Senior Cup match last Thursday evening.

With the sides level at a goal apiece entering the last few minutes, it seemed likely the game would enter a period of extra-time, until Kelly struck right at the death.

Brendan Place will obviously be disappointed to conceded defeat so late in the game, but with a total of nine new players making their debuts, and with their pre-season campaign still running, he will also take plenty of encouragement from his side's performance.

Bray had the best possible start when they took the lead after just three minutes through the lively Shane O'Neill.

The move for this goal started with a throw-in by Daire Doyle on the right-hand side, which was flicked on by Dean Zambra for O'Neill to lash past the helpless Chris Bennion in the Athlone goal.

To concede a goal at such an early stage was a massive blow for Place's side, but they didn't drop the heads and, as the half wore on, they started to get on the ball a lot more in the middle of the park.

Bray were still dangerous, though, and it was noticeable how competitive they were, as they fought for every ball with plenty of aggression. No doubt they were spurred on by the news during the week that they would be taking the place of the ill-fated Cork City in this year's Premier Division, and it was The Seagulls who had the next clear-cut chance of the game on 19 minutes.

This opportunity came about when Eoghan O'Shea was booked for hauling down Chris Shields on the edge of the box. The subsequent free-kick was taken by left-winger Kelly, whose effort was brilliantly turned away by Bennion. There was a sense that Athlone were coming more and more into the game though, with Austin Skelly causing a number of problems for the Wicklow men.

Indeed, Skelly's trickery forced Daire Doyle to dive in on 26 minutes when Skelly was looking to pull the ball back, and referee Declan Hanney had no hesitation in awarding a penalty to Athlone. Skelly took the subsequent spot-kick, which was comfortably dispatched to the back of the net to restore parity.

Unfortunately, from a spectator's point of view, the game then became a bit scrappy until the end of the half, with chances few and far between on either side. The opening part of the second half would continue in much the same vein, with both sides looking like they were trying to avoid defeat, rather than going flat out for victory.

Both sides were defending well and the midfield battle was also very intriguing with neither side giving an inch of space for one another to forge any sort of meaningful attack.

It looked like it was going to take a moment of magic from an individual to separate the sides, and Kelly did look the most likely person to provide this, as he went close on both the 65th and 69th minute of the game.

As the game entered its final quarter, Wanderers were enjoying the majority of the play in terms of possession at least, but they were finding it hard to produce the goals to match their undoubted industry.

Then, with everyone within the confines of the ground seemingly settling for 30 additional minutes of play, Shields managed to slip a telling pass through to O'Neill, who was unable to unleash a shot at goal, but was able to find Kelly just to the left of the goal,. Kelly was clinical in finishing to the far corner of the net.

This meant Athlone had only a couple of minutes left in which to find an equaliser. There was a slight talking point at the end of the game when the referee blew the final whistle just as Brian McCarthy was about to unleash a shot on goal.

It did seem a bit strange that the referee didn't wait until the ball had gone out of play, but it should be noted that McCarthy's shot was always going to drift wide anyway.

Despite the loss, this was a good work-out for Athlone, and provides some of their players with valuable game time ahead of the start of their League Of Ireland First Division campaign this weekend.

Bray Wanderers: Brian Kane; Daire Doyle, Philip Knight, Shane O'Connor, Dane Massey; Chris Shields, David O'Neill, Dean Zambra, Jake Kelly; John Mulroy, Shane O'Neill. Subs: Dean Barrett for Mulroy (92 mins).

Athlone Town: Chris Bennion; Mark Nolan, Brian McCarthy, Des Hope, Eoghan O'Shea; Gareth Kenna, Richie O'Hanlon; Stephen Place, Noel McGee, Robert Farrell, Austin Skelly. Subs: Shane Dolan for McGee (56 mins); Gordon Watson for Skelly (70).

Referee: Declan Hanney (Dublin).