Bray Wanderers improved their chances of Premier Division survival with a 2-1 victory over champions Bohemians at Dalymount Park.

 

John Flood opened the scoring for Eddie Gormley's side before a second-half penalty from Gary McCabe made sure that the visitors went away with the three points.

 

A late goal from Glen Crowe wasn't enough to drag the league leaders back into the contest as the hosts suffered their second defeat in a week following the loss to Sligo Rovers.

 

While Bohs dominated the possession and created numerous chances, but were caught out by two clever counter attacks and struggled to cope after both Gary Deegan and Brian Murphy were sent off.

 

Bray came into the game with the intention of upsetting the odds and in the first minute Chris Shields let rip with a long range effort to show that they were not just turning up to surrender the points.

 

More chances arrived with Jake Kelly heading wide and Dave Mulcahy blasting off target, but it was the home team that controlled the tempo of the game.

 

Jason Byrne was first to threaten for The Gypsies when he latched onto a lofted pass from Joseph Ndo, but goalkeeper Chris O'Connor was alert to the danger.

 

The game was suddenly turned around when Deegan was harshly sent off for a foul on Bray frontman Flood just outside the Bohs penalty area.

 

Flood then turned into the night's villain in the eyes of the home support when he raced onto a pass from Mulcahy on 22 minutes and buried the ball into the back of the net.

 

Bohs staged their comeback with Ndo coming close, before crossing for Anthony Murphy who failed to keep his effort down and then the same player had a header cleared off the line by Derek Pender.

 

After the break, they continued to press forward in search of the goal that would get them back into it with Byrne and Conor Powell both trying their luck with powerfully struck shots.

 

The Seagulls could have doubled their lead when Flood forced Murphy into an excellent save with his feet after good work by Gary McCabe.

 

But they didn't waste their next opportunity, which came from the penalty spot after McCabe fed Flood, who was then brought down by the Bohs keeper and that resulted in him getting a red card.

 

McCabe fired in from twelve yards to stun the Dalymount outfit and put themselves in a fantastic position to pick up a much-needed victory.

 

Bohs reacted by bringing Crowe on and the legendary hitman did exactly what was needed when he netted from close range following a sustained period of pressure, but it wasn't enough to stop Bray from taking the win.

 

Bohemians: B Murphy, Rossiter, Shelley, Oman (Gregg 70), Powell, A Murphy (Crowe 75), Deegan, Keegan, Ndo, Byrne, Fenn (Brennan 60).

 

Substitutes Not Used: McGuinness, Cronin.

 

Bray Wanderers: O'Connor, Pender, Foran, Deans, Cronin (Mulroy 76), McCabe (Doyle 87), Shields, Mulcahy, Massey, Kelly, Flood (O'Neill 82).

 

Substitutes Not Used: Kane, Brennan.

 

Referee: Anthony Buttimer