He chased his dreams last year and it turned into a nightmare but Evan Moran is back on track now. The goalkeeper spent most of his 2017 looking forlornly for the right club and despite searching two different continents, he was left empty-handed.
He chased his dreams last year and it turned into a nightmare but Evan Moran is back on track now.
The goalkeeper spent most of his 2017 looking forlornly for the right club and despite searching two different continents, he was left empty-handed.
Moran signed for Bray Wanderers two days before the start of the 2018 season alongside Blackburn Rovers shot-stopper Aaron Dillon. 21-year old Moran was to be second-choice but a back injury to Dillon opened the door and Moran hasn't looked back since. He relishes the challenge of minding the net of the top flight's bottom club.
"I'm enjoying it. It was a while before I actually got to play but it's just about finding your momentum and I think I've kind of found that now in the team. I got the call-up in Sligo and I've stayed in the team since. Obviously, I wouldn't wish anyone to be injured but it has worked out well for me and I feel like I've taken my chance.
"It can be tough. The stats show that you're going to be the busiest goalkeeper in the league but I love challenging myself as well and stepping up to play against teams like Cork and Dundalk. It's a test and you want to get something out of the games which I feel I do personally but I feel like the boys are really starting to get solid in front of me. The boys are stepping up."
The Seagulls have taken the scalps of Derry City, Shamrock Rovers and now St. Patrick's Athletic at the Carlisle Grounds and Moran - who is watched like a hawk at every home game by girlfriend Nicole Sopkovich - knows how important home form could prove.
"We said it to ourselves after the Derry game that we have to make this place a fortress and I think we've done that. We've turned it around here but now we need to turn it around on the road and start picking up points away from home too."
Moran had almost forgotten that winning feeling after a tough 2017 and he still spent most of his 2018 thus far on the bench - not a role he relishes.
"I was out of football for about a year. I was trying to find my feet and find clubs here and in the States and sometimes things don't work out but you've just got to keep chipping away and hoping that something will break and when you get an opportunity - you have to take it.
"It is frustrating. You see games going by and you want to get noticed and you'll never get noticed on the bench. It's great now that I've got a couple of games and I'm absolutely loving it. Hopefully I've many more games."
Moran has played in the First Division before but it is a faith that he's hoping to escape with Bray as they hone in on Limerick in ninth spot.
"It's very, very catchable. That's nine points to pass them - we can definitely catch them. If you see performances like tonight and against Derry and Waterford as well, if you can get results against them you can get results against anybody. We'll keep fighting."
