NOW THAT’S REAL football.

Own goals, torrential rain, extra-time, collapsing walls and sudden-death penalties.

Bray Wanderers survived an almighty scare as they hung onto their place in the Airtricity League Premier Division, denying Monaghan United, in a dramatic night at the Carlisle Grounds.

The Irish Times’ Emmet Malone writes this morning:

Ten minutes after he scored an own goal that might well have sent Bray Wanderers crashing down to the first division, Chris Shields got the penalty that guaranteed the club its top flight status last night at the Carlisle Grounds where spot kick misses by Alan Byrne and Paul Whelan ultimately proved fatal for the visitors.

There’s a concise match report here.

The FAI and the home side however have promised to investigate the collapse of a wall during the game, according to the Irish Independent.

Last July a different part of the wall collapsed under similar circumstances when Shamrock Rovers visited the Wicklow venue.

There’s some fairly Paranormal Activity-level footage of the penalties below, if you want to have a look: