Bray Wanderers celebrate their 1000th senior competitive match by taking on Dundalk in an eagerly-awaited Airtricity League opening fixture at the Carlisle Grounds. Having first entered senior football on October 12th 1955, facing Drumcondra in their first match, the Seagulls will be celebrating their 1000th match tonight.

Dave Webster will miss the occasion, having picked-up a knee injury in pre-season, while Dave O’Neill (leg) and Colm Tresson (back) are both doubtful. Otherwise, manager Eddie Gormley has a full squad to choose from.

New Dundalk manager Ian Foster takes charge of the Lilywhites in the Airtricity League for the first time. Foster will be without the services of Tiarnan Mulvenna (knee) but has an otherwise full-fit squad.

One Dundalk player who will be particularly looking forward to this evening’s match is midfielder Alan Cawley, who used to play for Bray Wanderers.

“I can’t wait now at this stage,” he said. “It gets to the point where in the last week of pre-season you just can’t wait for the games to start. It has been really good, the pre-season, we’re all feeling fit and we’re raring to go now. Six wins in a row, you can’t really argue with that. It has gone really well. The main priority with pre-season, I suppose, is everyone getting fit. I think that has been achieved, and on top of that we’ve got the wins and the results, and we’ve only conceded a couple of goals and we’re scoring plenty. It bodes well for the start of the season, but at the end of the day pre-season means nothing really when the real games start.”