These are worrying times for Galway United, who slumped to a 12th defeat in a row as Bray Wanderers gleaned a valuable away victory.

 

Burdened by off field problems too Galway were under pressure entering this contest and the nature of the loss was particularly worrying as the Westerners failure to defend basic set piece situations continues to cause them unnecessary problems.

Galway United's recent form has been packed with cruel losses and the Tribesmen simply wanted to avoid equalling the club's record of consecutive defeats.

It has been a surprisingly encouraging campaign for Bray's mix of youth and experience as they came to the west eager to maintain their push for a top five finish.

Unsurprisingly it was scrappy early on and Bray came close to registering a five minute goal, but Gary Dempsey's free kick went wide.

Galway had an opportunity in the 10th minute as a Karl Moore cross wasn't cleared by the Bray defence, Alan Murphy's finish, though, was high and the visitors survived the scare.

The locals were showing signs of improvement and Mikey Gilmore then flashed the ball across goal moments later as Galway sought to land a blow.

Still Galway were encountering difficulties at the back too and a hesitant defence allowed Dane Massey get a shot off in the 15th minute, but the effort trickled harmlessly wide.

Then a Shane O'Connor delivery from the right found John Mulroy in the area, but his header lacked precision.

In the 29th minute Mulroy made space and his drilled shot forced a decent reflex save from Galway custodian Greg Fleming.

A minute before the interval Fleming did well to deny Mulroy again, but Bray scored from the resultant corner.

On this occasion Fleming failed to deal with Dempsey's corner and Conor Murphy bundled the visitors ahead.

Bray doubled their advantage three minutes after the restart as Mulroy's opportunistic finish ended a move orchestrated by Chris Shields.

Galway were in distress and Bray struck for a third in the 55th minute as Stephen Last headed a Joe Kendrick corner into the Galway net.

Karl Moore hit the post in stoppage time, but it scarcely mattered as Bray had inflicted enough damage.

GALWAY UNITED: Fleming; Preston-Kelly, Maher, Walsh, Sinnott (G Kelly 59); Ryan (Keogh 73), Keane, Curran, Moore; Murphy (Feeney, 59), Gilmore.

BRAY WANDERERS: Gregg; S O'Connor, Last, Prendergast, Kendrick (Houston, 82); Mulroy, D O'Connor (McGuinness, 80), Dempsey, Shields, Massey; Murphy (Zambra, 85).

Referee: D McKeon (Dublin).