Treaty Look to Make it Three Wins in a row in Bray

Treaty United travel to the Carlisle Grounds on Friday night to take on Bray Wanderers in the Airtricity League First Division as they aim to make it three wins in a row in the league (7.45). In recent weeks, Treaty have beaten Waterford FC and Athlone Town at the Markets Field. The Athlone victory occurred last Monday night in the re-scheduled fixture from February.

Substitute Dean George scored a brace having replaced Kieran Hanlon in the first half. Basement side Athlone created chances of their own, but Jack Brady managed to keep his second clean sheet of the season. Manager Tommy Barrett retained the starting 11 which beat Waterford 10 days previously with Hanlon partnering Curran up top and Joe Collins keeping his place next to Callum McNamara in the engine room. With Friday night being Treaty’s first away game since their change to a 4-4-2 formation, it remains to be seen whether Barrett opts to be more cautious in his approach on the road.

Friday night’s encounter promises to be a tight affair with just two points separating the two teams in the table. Treaty are currently in 4^th following Monday night’s win and have a further game in hand on 6^th place Bray. This is the first meeting of the sides since Bray’s merger with Cabinteely. Pat Devlin is now the manager at the Carlisle Grounds and there has been a huge change in the squad with many players joining from Cabinteely including Kieran ‘Marty’ Waters, Daniel Blackbyrne and Kevin Knight.

The Seagulls started the season poorly but have managed to pick up 8 points from their last 12 games including two impressive away wins in Longford and Cobh. Last year, Treaty and Bray met on three occasions with the Limerick side playing their first ever Airtricity League First Division game at the Wicklow venue which ended in a scoreless draw.

Treaty defeated Bray 2-0 at the Markets Field in the second meeting with Willie Armshaw’s introduction proving to be the difference on the night. In the final meeting between the sides, Conor Clifford dispatched a late penalty to give Bray a narrow 1-0 victory and with little to separate the teams, a goal fest is not expected come kick-off tomorrow evening.

On the injury front, Treaty’s load is becoming lighter with Colin Conroy, Sean Guerins and Conor Melody returning. However, captain Jack Lynch is still sidelined and Kieran Hanlon looks set to miss the clash. Lee Devitt also returned on Monday evening and made an appearance as a second half substitute.