Bray Wanderers 1 Drogheda United 0: AFTER A miserable start to the season, Bray's form of late has been quite something, with the Seasiders winning four and drawing one of five league outings before last night's visit by the champions.

Three of the victories were earned against teams struggling near the foot of the table, but the 1-0 win over Derry gave a clear warning that United might be in for an uncomfortable night.

As might have been expected, Paul Doolin's side did manage to dominate in terms of possession and chances created, but, somewhat against the odds, Bray triumphed once again with Paddy Kavanagh on hand once more to provide the decisive strike.

Doolin will argue with some justification this morning that things would probably have turned out differently if Adam Hughes' header less than two minutes in hadn't been "saved" impressively on the line by the out-stretched hand of centre back Derek Foran.

Referee Paul Tuite missed the incident, and the Dubliner neither gave the penalty nor the red card that might have followed.

It's hard to deny that the official's mistake had a major bearing on what followed, but, having had their slice of luck, Bray deserved credit for capitalising on it.

Eddie Gormley's men worked tirelessly to frustrate their more polished opponents and take a win that moves them to within a point of second-placed Bohemians.

With Bray playing five across the middle and United just three, the home side must have hoped to smother their opponents' passing in a key area, but Ollie Cahill, Shane Robinson and Adam Hughes seemed to cope well enough in the circumstances.

What Gormley's formation did mean was that Wanderers were able to get the bodies behind the ball when possession was lost. Whenever Aidan O'Keeffe and Richie Baker sought to press in from wide positions they certainly found the area to be densely populated with an opponent always on hand and more than willing to throw himself in front of a shot.

It all had the desired effect of making life difficult for United's front men, but at a cost further up the field where Bray's own lone striker, Ger Rowe, was left looking lonely through the opening period.

Even when they broke, the locals struggled to provide any sort of meaningful support to the former Shamrock Rovers man because they were playing so deep. That left set-pieces as their most likely source of a goal against the run of play.

Sure enough, that's where it came from, although the free that led to Kavanagh's fourth strike in seven games was actually Drogheda's. Stuart Byrne made the error that allowed the midfielder to exchange passes with Rowe before racing clear and coolly finishing to the bottom left corner from just inside the area.

Given the extent to which they had dictated the pattern of the game, the goal was a huge blow to the visitors, but with seven minutes remaining before half-time they at least had a lot of time to make amends for the error.

Wanderers were to prove resilient over the course of the second half, though. There was an element of good fortune at times about their survival, with Chris O'Connor, for instance, looking beaten when Baker's free came crashing back off the bar three minutes after the interval. But, for the most part, Gormley's men worked hard to make their luck.

United set about their task patiently and found space a little easier to come by in their last 30 metres as their opponents tired.

Repeatedly, though, they were foiled by lunging blocks, last-ditch tackles and the odd poor finish. And as the game moved into its closing stages there was a growing sense that Bray might hang on for the win.

By then, O'Keeffe had headed just wide and Hughes against the bar, while Declan O'Brien had marked his arrival with another close-range header that flew narrowly over.

In contrast, there was little work to be down at the other end, bar, on the odd occasion, getting things moving forward again. Bray's best chance of the half came when Paul Dunphy's strike from 30 yards floated just over.

When the final whistle sounded, though, Drogheda's superiority counted for nothing.

BRAY WANDERERS: O'Connor; Pender, Foran, Doherty, Cronin; Kavanagh, Whelan, Cawley, Tresson, McCabe (Dunphy, 58 mins); Rowe.

DROGHEDA UNITED: Ewings; Byrne, Gavin, Gartland, Kendrick; Hughes, Robinson, Cahill; Baker (Zayed, 85 mins), Grant (O'Brien, 61), O'Keeffe (Keegan, 71).

Referee: P Tuite (Dublin).