CLUB CALL

WICKLOW ROVERS AFC

The first team made it two wins on the bounce with three valuable points earned in a 2-1 home win over St James Gate, in a game they controlled for large parts.

Tommy Kelly was the hero with a brace of goals and the defence held firm in a nervous last few minutes to gain all three points to ease them away from the bottom end of the table.

The second team were away to Farm Utd in the Joe Tynan Cup and after a close encounter they lost by a score of 2-1 after extra time with Sean Tobin scoring the Rovers goal for his fourth of the season. The third team lost 3-0 at home to Wolfe Tone Celtic.

In the Junior section on Saturday the 12A's lost 4-1 away to Arklow Town with Keith Carty hitting his 13th goal of the season.

The 13B's continued their great start to their league campaign, they defeated Greystones Utd in the Woodlands in a game that was packed with goals, the lads ran out 7-4 winners with Stuart Cox and James Lang both notching a brace a piece with Dean Noble, Stephen Finlay and Jack Evans adding singles to make it three wins from three games.

Games for the U-8B's, 9B's, 13A's, 15B's and 16A's all fell foul of the weather.

On Sunday the U-12 girls defeated Enniskerry 5-0, Niamh Caffrey helped herself to her second hat-trick of the season when she scored four goals, Sinead McGettigan scored the other goal.

The U-14 girls had a comfortable 10-0 win away to Leicester Celtic, Jade Duffy netted her second hat-trick of the season with three goals, braces from Rioghna McGettigan, Orla Hayes and Aine Cahill and a single from Clarrise Broughan accounted for their 10 goal haul.

The 8A's lost out to Arklow Town 3-1 with Aaron Murray getting his seventh goal of the season.

Our U-9A's made it eight wins in a row when they won 4-2 away to Greystones Utd, Joseph Neilan just returning from injury hit a splendid hattrick with leading scorer Conor Hunter notching the other goal.

The U-10A's lost out by the odd goal in a sevengoal thriller away to Greystones Utd, Lee Hamilton, Max Kearney and Mark O'Brien were all on the scoreboard.

The U-10B's started their shield campaign with a good 1-0 away win over Roundwood with Kieran Fitzpatrick hitting the only goal of the game.

The U-10C's didn't fare as well losing out to Arklow Town B by five goals to one with Finn Egan Barron scoring the Rovers goal.

The games involving our U-9C's, 14B's and under 16 girls were all cancelled.

Three players made the hat-trick club this week, first was Niamh Caffrey who smashed in four goals for the U-12 girls in their 5-0 home win over Enniskerry, then it was Jade Duffy who hit the net three times for the U-14 girls in their comprehensive 10-0 away victory over Leicester Celtic. The third player was Joseph Neilan who was returning to the U-9A team after injury and returned in style when he hit the rigging three times, well done Niamh, Jade and Joseph.

The club are holding a table quiz as a fundraiser for the U-14's trip away at Easter, the quiz takes place in Wicklow Golf Club this Saturday January 19, the cost is €20 for a team of four people and starts at 8.30pm, there will be a raffle and spot prizes on the night, all support would be greatly appreciated.

Everyone at Wicklow Rovers AFC were deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Rita Vickers and Ann Morton (Yorkshire, England) recently, we would like to express our sincere sympathy to their families and friends at this sad time, our thoughts and prayers are with you all, may they rest in peace.

Anyone with information for the club notes or the club website can contact me at 0879108706 or e-mail me at jimmy.nolan09@hotmail.com

For all news regarding the club, check out the club website at www.wicklowrovers.com

BRAY WHEELERS

Last week the country's elite cyclocross racers headed north to Dungannon where Bray's cyclocross expert Sean O'Tuathaill rode a great race to finish third overall.

O'Tuathaill has been going well all season finishing second overall in the Fixx Cyclocross series and he was using the Dungannon race as preparation for this week's national championships.

This week's National Cyclocross Championships took place just outside Dundalk on Sunday and Bray Wheelers were ably represented by O'Tuathaill who was hoping for a strong finish going on his recent form.

A huge field signed on for the race in Dundalk including several professional riders. O'Tuathaill did extremely well throughout the race just narrowly missed out on the medal positions finishing in fourth place.

Tuesday night race training started this week with a really big turnout. This is recommended for anyone intent on racing club or open races this year. Tuesday night training starts at 7.30pm from the Kilmacanogue flyover and all riders must have front and rear lights and hi vis clothing.

Meanwhile the youth riders met last Sunday for a spin at Shanganagh Park. Despite the cold day there was a good turnout. The next youth spin will be from Greystones on January 27 at 2pm.

Beginner spins will be resuming shortly and a full roster of spins will be posted on the website shortly.

A series of coaching talks in the clubhouse on Thursday nights is ongoing. This week's talk is on nutrition and will be presented by Adam Kelly of Puravida Greystones starting at 8pm.

BRAY RUNNER'S

Wicklow Master's Cross Country: The Wicklow Masters Cross Country was held in Shanganagh on Sunday, January 6.

Underfoot conditions were reasonable, considering our recent weather. In the ladies race, Suzanne Foot, Noelle Thorpe and Denise O'Leary were the first three athletes over the line, each winning their respective age categories.

Siobhan Butler took silver, Grainne Cunningham, bronze and Mary Hourahan put in an excellent performance to take the silver medal in her age category.

The ladies team of Suzanne, Noelle, Denise, Siobhan, Grainne, Andrea Murphy, Carmel Murphy and Mary Hourahan took team gold.

In the men's race the very impressive Finbar Kirwan was a clear winner, Joe Cawley was second and Dominic Horan was fifth.

Finbar was first O/40, Joe was second O/40. Dominic, second O/45. Martin Frances, first O/50. Richard Kavanagh, first, O/55, Bernard Quinn second O/55. Sean Clifford, first, O/65.

Finbar, Joe, Dominic, Martin and Jason O'Connor took gold in the 35 to 49 team event and Richard Kavanagh, Sean Clifford and Bernard Quinn took gold in the 50 plus team race.

Wicklow All Star Awards - The Athletics Wicklow Star Awards for 2012 were held last night, Friday January 11 in Greystones Tennis Club.

We received a number of awards in both individual and team categories.

The Junior men award went to Lorcan Murphy, Master men went to Martin Francis and the Masters women award went to Noelle Thorpe. On the team front, our cross country teams won the following, Senior men, Joe Jacob trophy, Masters men, Sean Clifford Cup and the Sean Byrne Memorial cup was won by our Masters women.

In the Fit4life league 2012, Charlotte Stevens (second 0/50), Dolores Gilliland (third 0/50) and Carmel Murphy all received awards. The event was excellently hosted by Kilcoole A.C.

Annual AGM - Please be reminded that the club AGM will take place on Thursday January 17 at 8.30pm in the club house.

BRAY WANDERERS

Seagulls Lotto - There was one Jackpot winner on Sunday January 13 for a jackpot of €600, numbers drawn were 5, 11, 17, 24. The five €30 lucky winners were R Price c/o bwsc, P Fitzgerald c/o Glenview FC, D Dunne c/o J Keating, S O'Sullivan c/o Glenview FC, P Doyle c/o Shamrock Bhoys. The next draw will be on Sunday the 20th of January in the Hibernia Inn with a jackpot of €675. If anyone wishes to sell lotto tickets, please contact the club at 2828214.

Online Shop - Bray Wanderers merchandise is now available to purchase on line. The on line souvenir shop can be accessed from the Supporters club web site home page www.braywanderers.com

2013 Season tickets - Bray Wanderers 2013 Season Tickets are now on sale. Adult: €99; Child (U-16): €49; OAP: €49. Special pre-Christmas family ticket offer: two adults and two children for €249. Contact the club at 2828214.

Bray Wanderers AGM - The Annual General Meeting of the Supporters Club will take place on Monday January 28 at 8pm in the Strand Hotel, Bray Seafront.

All members are asked to attend.

RATHNEW FC

All our schoolboys/girls teams have been back in action since the new year our U-12 team were back on the 6th away to Arklow United and were unlucky to lose 4-2 to a very good United side.

Owen (Messi) Gregory was again on the score sheet for Rathnew.

The U-8's were the next team in action on January 12 away to Wolfe Tone and this young side showed they had worked hard over the holidays when they hit Tone for seven. The scorers on the day were C Clarke 2, C Byrne 2, J Moorehouse, J Mrrigan and S Healy - a good start to the New Year for the little villagers.

The U-9's were away to Greystones on Sunday and were unlucky to lose 3-2 to a strong Greystones side but this was a game they will feel with a little bit of luck they could have won.

The goal scorers on the day were Ethan Power who even at this young age is shown a keen eye for goal and the prolific Toby Curran, Toby has carried on from where he left off last year and at this rate will have Van Persie looking over his shoulder.

The U-10's also played on Sunday away to Greystones and came away with a 1-0 win over the league champions this was a great result for the villagers who put in a great team performance the scorer on the day was Eoin Doyle.

Eoin is part of the Mick Nolan's county squad and everyone at the club would like to wish Eoin all the best and hopefully he can make the final squad.

The Academy is back on every Saturday at 11am on our indoor pitch so if you have a child boy or girl between the ages of 4 and 7 bring them along everyone welcome.

Our lotto is on every Monday night so please support tickets are €2 each this is our main source of income and helps to keep the club going.

NEWTOWN JUNIORS F.C.

Only the U-9's saw action last weekend as the cold snap curtailed the fixtures for all our other teams.

The U-9's hosted Roundwood and despite taking an early lead through Jason Carthy-O'Reilly they were sadly second best for the rest of the game as Roundwood ran out comfortable winners.

Star performers for the home side on the day were Rebecca Gillan, Laragh Davis and Fionn O'Reilly. Well done to U-14's duo Sean Gregory and Aaron Toner who have been selected for this year's Wicklow Kennedy cup squad.

They follow in a long list of players to from the club who have represented their county at this prestigious competition. Well done lads and now the hard work begins.

The following players celebrate their birthdays in the coming week and they are Devin Okundia and Nathan Murray from the U-8's, Kelsea Parsons from the girl's U-16's and last but not least Orlaith Whelan from the girl's U-18's. Happy birthday lads and lassies from everybody at Newtown Juniors F.C.

The people of Newtown and surrounding areas greeted with shock on Tuesday the sad news of the passing of Noel Gregory.

Noel of Gregory's Garage in Killadreenan was chairman and a founder member of the Newtown Community Centre a building that was a symbol of Noel's tremendous dedication and hard work in the Community for many years.

The esteem in which Noel was held in the community was evident by the large number of people who attended his funeral on Friday and the attendance in the Community Centre after the funeral was a tribute to a man who gave his heart and soul to the village of Newtown.

He will be sadly missed and we extend our deepest condolences to his wife Betty, his sons, daughter, brothers and sister and extended family and friends. May he rest in peace.

Also we extend our condolences to the family and friends of Elsie Maniglia of Sycamore Drive who sadly passed away last week. May she rest in peace.

For all other queries/matters relating to the club contact Hughie at 087-6987653 or visit our website www.newtownjuniors.com and you can also find us on Facebook.

NEWTOWN UNITED F.C.

No games for our teams last weekend as the weather was the only winner last weekend. Here's hoping for better luck for the coming weekend.

There was no winner in our members draw this week so it's a rollover of €200 next week. Thank you for your continued support.

WICKLOW TOWN AFC

Welcome back to everyone to the club after the Christmas and New Year break. On New Year's Day many of the club members from the U-8's right through to the first team played a number games against each other, the U-8's v U-10's, U11's v U-12's and the day ended with the U-17's taking on the first team.

It was great seeing everyone out and enjoying themselves, there was a good show of football skills and even a couple of dodgy peno's but that just added to the day.

Thank you to all the supporters who braved the cold to watch the games. After the match we finished the day off with a social gathering in the upstairs lounge of Whistler's Bar for all players and their families.

A huge thank you to Whistler's Bar for their kind hospitality, Supervalu Wicklow for the halftime refreshments and snacks and to Will and Kathleen Clarke for the lovely food it was very much appreciated.

The first team kicked off their year on Sunday January 6 with a 2-1 win against Wolfe Tone, the goal scorers were Eddie Kelly and Eric Dunne.

Saturday the 11th there was two home games first up were the U-11's in a friendly against our neighbours Rovers despite the visitors taking a very quick lead the lads came back and won with an impressive 6-1 score with goals from Dylan Kavanagh 3, Dylan Doyle, Jack Fox and Matthew Ryan.

The U-10's were next up but despite there being a 0-0 score at halftime they let their guard down and lost 5-0.

Sunday was a big day for the club as the first team were at home to Arklow Utd Premier team in the quarter-final of the Charlie Bishop Cup which we are current holders off.

Town were the stronger team on the pitch overall but coming up to the final whistle they were 21 down with Shane Dunne having scored for Town but in the last minute of injury time Cathal Doyle scored a cracker of a goal bringing the game into extra time.

Both teams fought hard to get the winning goal but after many saves, wides and the goalpost getting a rattling it didn't happen so it went to penalties, which Town won 3-2 from penalties which were taken by Eddie Kelly, Mickey Dunne and Conor Dickenson with the winner.

Well done to Ian Corkish who made two great saves during the shootout.

Congratulations to Finn, Spud and the lads roll on the semi-final. The weekend's fixtures finished with the U-17's away to Cabinteely Boys which they won 3-2 with their goals coming from Jordan Pettigrew 2 and Anto Hill.

The club would like to wish Maurice Dunne and Lar Newsome all the best as they travel Down Under, they were members of our previous Senior Premier team that done the club proud winning the Cup double last year, may you have a safe and happy journey.

Also a big congrats to Robert Keogh and Robert Taliga on their selection for the Kennedy Cup Squad both lads played for us for a number of years and we wish them all the best on this great achievement.

There will be a committee meeting upstairs in Whistler's Bar on Wednesaday January 23, if anyone would like to join the committee please come along at 8pm.

ARKLOW TOWN FC

A busy weekend of action at Arklow Town FC kicked-off on Friday night as the LSL team welcomed league leaders, Crumlin United, to Lamberton.

A fantastic display from the home team, who looked more likely to score, was dampened when Ciaran Byrne sustained a broken wrist and had to be replaced and despite a magnanimous performance for the remainder of the game it was the visitors who ran out as victors.

The first game on Saturday morning saw a very strong Ardmore Rovers team use home advantage to outwit the U-9A boys who lost to a 2-0 score line.

Better luck at Lamberton however for the U-12A team who defeated Wicklow Rovers 4-1 through goals from Eoin Hayes, Daniel Testa, Daniel Bruce and Sean Crowley to secure their place in the Shield Final.

The U-12B team were also in action on Saturday and were unlucky to lose out to St Anthony's FC in the Division 3 Shield.

Sunday was a cold day but the football from our U-8 team was smoking hot when they produced a 3-1 away victory over Wicklow Rovers with goals from Conn Keaney, Aaron O'Brien and Paidi Kavanagh.

Closer to home the U-9B boys played out a very tight contest against Enniskerry FC and despite two great goals from Ben Somers and Adam Vanderheijden they were unlucky to lose by a narrow margin of 3-2.

The U-10B boys kicked off their Shield campaign with an impressive 5-1 victory over Wicklow Rovers. Marcel Kasperek bagged a hat-trick while Mikey Murray and Callum Smith also found the back of the net.

The U-13B team put on a fabulous performance in Bray and were unlucky to lose by a single goal to Ardmore Rovers. A particularly good display in the first half saw goals from Oran Jameson and Conor Roche.

The U-15 boys had a day to forget when they were well beaten by local rivals Arklow United however the U-14B team returned the favour with a great win over the Ferndale Park crew - Sean Dodd, Ryan McGowan, Rokas Kniezys, Eoghan Kenny and Derek Crammond all finding the back of the net.

The U-18 team had a brilliant 1-0 victory over DDSL U-18 Super League leaders, Castleknock Celtic FC, in the Leinster Youths Cup. Ryan Murray secured the all-important goal which saw the boys through to the final eight of the competition for the fourth year in a row.

And also in cup action was the Premier team who produced a tremendous performance to secure a 3-2 victory over St Anthony's FC in the Charlie Bishop Cup with goals from Darren Doyle and Anto Kenny.

The U-11 teams were all involved in the WDSL Futsal Competition at Arklow Leisure Centre on Sunday and had a fantastic experience. Well done to Chris McGeary who organised the event on behalf of the WDSL.

And finally, a special mention to Jonathan Kelty, who has made the move to Athlone Town FC following spells at Bray Wanderers and more recently the Arklow Town FC Leinster Senior League team. Best wishes to Jonathan from all at Arklow Town Football Club.