By Gerard Mulreaney (@gerardmulreaney)
Bray Wanderers had a dilemma in the off-season as both of their goalkeepers left the club. First Lee Steacy left for Shelbourne and an opportunity to get first-team football following 18 months as Peter Cheerie’s back-up. Then Cherrie followed him by departing the Carlisle Grounds and heading south to link up with the Champions Cork City. Whether that will lead to first-team football with Cork is another thing, as Mark McNulty continues to man the sticks at Turner’s Cross.
This week the club announced the signing of not one, but two goalkeepers ahead of the season kick-off.
Both Aaron Dillon 21 and Evan Moran 20 head to the Carlisle Grounds, with Dillon on a 6-Month loan deal from Blackburn Rovers.
We caught up with Galwayman Aaron Dillon and asked him how the move came about, “The goalkeeping coach at Blackburn came to me and said Bray were interested in signing me on loan. To be honest I was delighted to hear that Bray were interested.”
He was also full of praise for new Bray boss Dave Mackey, “Dave’s a very nice man and he’s been very welcoming to me. Im extremely grateful to Dave for giving me the opportunity to play for Bray.”
Dillon signed a 1-year deal with Blackburn in August 2017 and joined their U-23 Development squad but hasn’t featured as much as he would’ve liked. He told us, “It was a dream come true when Blackburn offered me my first professional contract. I haven’t played as many games as I would’ve hoped for but I’ve kept my head down and worked hard both on and off the pitch.”
For any Irish youngster who heads to the UK it’s difficult to adjust to life away from home and it was no different for Dillon. He said, “It’s never easy being away from home and especially your family but its part of the sacrifice that has to be made to become a professional footballer. I owe a lot to my Dad and the amount of time he spent in England with me.”
However, with the move back to Ireland he’s looking forward to getting plenty of game-time at a high level with Bray, “I’m delighted to be given the opportunity to play at such a good standard of football. I’m hoping to play as many games as possible and gain experience playing with against some top quality players.”
It looks like he could feature between the posts on Friday night when Bray head up north to take on Dundalk at Oriel Park. Not a bad game to begin his time at the club.
He’s settled in well with the players since arriving, “I’m looking forward to playing in the League of Ireland, it’s a new season and a fresh start and the players have made me feel very welcome from the minute I stepped through the door.”
For the moment it’s just a short-term loan, but should Dillon’s performance levels excel Bray might look to make that deal permanent, something the young keeper isn’t ruling out, “I’ll just have to see how the next few months pan out,” he said.
Picture Credit: Blackburn Rovers FC
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