Sluggish Dundalk FC held by Bray Wanderers in season-opener at Oriel Park

SSE Airtricity League Premier Division

Dundalk FC 0-0 Bray Wanderers

Dundalk FC were held to a frustrating stalemate at Oriel Park tonight as Bray Wanderers departed having held the Lilywhites scoreless.

It was a pretty tame affair, in truth, and, while Stephen Kenny's men held most of the possession and created the majority of the openings, it was a match which the well-organised visitors could well have won.

Home 'keeper Gary Rogers was forced into fine stops in either half as Cory Galvin and Aaron Greene had Bray's only two efforts on target.

Robbie Benson was Dundalk's most prominent player in front of goal. The midfielder twice forced Bray stopper Aaron Dillon into action in the first-half, while he pulled another narrowly wide of the mark in the second-period as the Lilywhites sought a breakthrough.

But that never looked likely as Bray continually rebuffed the home side's sluggish advances with ease. Kenny introduced Sam Byrne for his debut in an attempt to find a winner, though Bray were not to be denied a deserved share of the spoils.

Dundalk FC: Gary Rogers; Seán Gannon, Stephen Folan, Dane Massey, Dean Jarvis; Chris Shields, Robbie Benson; Dylan Connolly (Krisztián Adorján 60), Jamie McGrath (Sam Byrne 81), Michael Duffy; Ronan Murray (Patrick Hoban 69)

Subs not used: Gabriel Sava (gk), Daniel Cleary, Georgie Poynton, Jack O'Keeffe

Bray Wanderers: Aaron Dillon; Dan McKenna, Hugh Douglas, Seán Heaney, Kevin Lynch; John Sullivan (Darragh Noone 62), Paul O'Conor; Ronan Coughlan (Daniel Kelly 74), Gary McCabe, Cory Galvin; Aaron Greene

Subs not used: Evan Moran (gk), Dylan Hayes, Rhys Gorman, Ger Pender, Jake Kelly

Referee: Rob Rogers (Dublin)

Attendance: 2,491