CLUB CALL
BRAY BOWLS
Last Sunday Bray B were away to Railway Union in the Crumlin Cup and despite winning two of the four rinks they lost the overall by nine points.Well done to Paddy Pegman, Frank Devlin, Ray Rigley and Alan Rath on their performance on the day.
On Monday evening our Division 4 team had a great victory at home to CYM where they took all five points on offer.
Captain Aidan Galvin certainly has the Midas touch with this group.
On Wednesday Bray visited Crumlin on the double with the ladies taking a point in the afternoon and the men’s Division 6 team taking 0.5 point later in the evening.
On Thursday our Vets1 team defeated CYM at home by 4-0 to maintain their top two position and Vets 2 picked up one point away to Ierne the table toppers. There is a two week break coming up for Divisions 1 and 2 and they are both back in action on June 11.
WICKLOW ROVERS
On the senior front it was left to our senior ladies to provide the action as they kicked off their season in the Dublin Women’s Football League.
Unfortunately for the girls they got off to a losing start away to Brookfield losing 4-0.
The girls performance didn’t warrant a four goal deficit as they put in a good shift and probably should have been a lot closer on the scoreboard. As this was their first game of the season and there’s plenty of football to go I’m sure there will be better days ahead.
On the junior front Tuesday’s action saw the Under-13As defeat Arklow Town 6-3 in Lamberton in the Under-14 Division 1 Shield, with their place in the final already assured this was a good workout for the lads prior to their cup and shield finals.
Connor Lewins hit an excellent hattrick, Max Kearney fired home a brace with Luke Dease completing the scoring with a single.
The Under-15s played a thrilling local derby with neighbours Rathnew with the spoils been shared in a 2-2 draw, in a game that swung from end to end a draw was probably a fair result in the end. Jack O’Gorman scored his first of the season with Nathan Wynne nabbing his tenth.
Also on Tuesday the Under-16Bs made it to the final of the Division 1 Shield final when they got the required result in defeating their closest challengers St Patricks in their own backyard.
Daniel Fitzsimons notched two while Conor Byrne and Sean Leonard scored one each in a 4-2 victory which earns the lads a place in the final against Greystones Utd, well done to John, Matt and the lads.
Thursday night’s action saw our Under-15s have a repeat of Tuesday’s game when they took on Rathnew for the second time in two days. This time Rathnew ran our 5-3 winners in another thriller, after scoring his first of the season on Tuesday Jack O’Gorman popped up for his second of the season; Philip Power also nabbed his second of the campaign with top scorer Ryan Murphy completing the scoring.
On Saturday our Under-12Bs went down 3-0 to Newtown Juniors in the Division 1 Cup final, in a fairly even first half there was nothing separating the sides at the interval. Newtown fired two quick fire goals in the early stages of the second half to go two up and added a third in the dying minutes to seal their victory. The lads gave it their all on the day but a special mention goes to Rory Hennessey who pulled off three top class saves in the game, well done to everyone involved on reaching the final.
On Sunday our Under-13Bs stormed to the Division 1 Cup when they defeated Roundwood 6-0 in the final. The lads controlled this game for large periods, after a slow start the lads got on top and fired home three goals in a ten minute spell.
The lads were clinical in front of goal with goal of the game coming from left back Mark Evans who lobbed the keeper from just inside his opponents half to make it 2-0; Ben Free fired home a double with David Lally, Lee Hamilton and Noah Sheridan registering singles. This was an excellent all round team performance with every player in the squad playing his part. Congratulations to Rob, Colm and the lads on a well deserved success and good luck in your up coming Shield final.
In the Under-16 Premier Cup final it was an all Rovers final with the As playing the Bs (our Under-15As). The Bs definitely put it up to their older club mates and even had the cheek to take the lead through an excellently dispatched free from Sean Leonard.
The As levelled through Luca Rampersaud with seven minutes remaining to send it to extra time. The game eventually went to the dreaded penalty shootout which the As came out on top by a score of 7-6. Well done to the As on their win, also well done to the Bs who put in a tremendous effort.
Congratulations to our Under-10 Green team who were runners up in the Friendship Cup in Belfast where they lost to Swansea City in the final.
On the way to the final the lads defeated Aquinas FC, Ballymena Utd, East Coast Strikers, St Marys, Phoenix Dublin and Roe Valley FC with their only defeat coming at the hands of Oxford Utd. Well done to Ian, Dixie and the lads on a great achievement.
The dates for our annual summer soccer camp are week 1 from Monday, July 4, to Friday, July 8, week 2 from Monday, July 11, to Friday, July 15. The camps will run from 10am to 3pm daily, each participant will receive a jersey, ball and a medal.
The cost of the camp is €65 with discount for a family with two or more kids. There will also be a girls only section in the camp.
All participants should bring a packed lunch, a drink, boots, shin guards and a rain jacket. Anyone interested in taking part should contact Johnny Dunne at 087-7802098 or Willie O’Brien at 0861696911. Alternatively you can contact any committee member or message the club Facebook page. Registration forms can be downloaded from the club website at www.wicklowrovers.com.
NEWTOWN JUNIORS
Our Under-12s take pride of place this week after their fantastic cup win over Wicklow Rovers ‘B’ last Saturday afternoon in Greystones.
All the goals in the 3-0 victory came in the second half and was just reward for the team, as they were the better team throughout, despite Rovers’ valiant efforts. They did everything but score in the first half, as their aim was a little off.
They opened the scoring two minutes into the second half when a flowing move involving Darragh Heffernan and Bobby Dowling was dispatched to the net by Fionn O’Reilly at the back post.
A further two minutes in and the game was put to bed when O’Reilly slipped a brilliant pass through to Heffernan and he got enough of a touch to put the ball in the net.
The third goal came with minutes remaining when Bobby Dowling broke from the halfway line to clip the ball past the advancing goalkeeper.
Hard luck to Wicklow Rovers who gave it their all on the day.
Bobby Dowling, the Newtown captain, received the cup on behalf of his team-mates that included the following, Sean Bishop, Jason Carthy, Shane Dun- leavy, Rebecca Gillan, Shane Synnott, Fionn O’Reilly, Laragh Davis, Charlie Sullivan, Darragh Heffernan, Simon Plant, Leon Hughes, Sam Gillan and the injured Luke Breen. Well done to the management team of Dave McGuirk and Joe Martin on the win and thank you to all the supporters who travelled.
No joy for our Under-14s who were well beaten by Roundwood. The concession of an early goal didn’t help Newtown and though they did play themselves back into the game, they conceded a second when they were enjoying their best spell of the game.
They did get a goal back to make it 2-1 when a corner from the right was put through his own goal by a Roundwood defender.
Things wouldn’t have been too bad going into the break at 2-1 down but Roundwood scored a third from another set piece to go 3-1 up. Newtown never raised a gallop in the second half and Roundwood scored three more goals to run out convincing winners.
On the day too many of the Newtown players played below par. There was plenty of honest effort and among the players who starred were Conor Kavanagh, Andrew Waters, Ciaran Mangan and Alex Kelly.
Hard luck to the team, many thanks to the supporters who travelled and well done to the management team of Stephen Nolan and Seamus Waters who looked after the team all season.
There were other games played during the week as the 11s lost 3-2 away to Rathnew with the goals scored by Ryan Clarke and Darragh Heffernan.
On Sunday morning they won 1-0 away to Aughrim Rangers thanks to an own goal but with a depleted team.
This result means the minimum the team can get is a play off for a place in the final.
A point from their last game next Saturday will cement their place in the Shield final.
The Under-12s lost during the week in Greystones 2-0 but they have already qualified for the Shield final where they will play Roundwood in the decider with a potential treble up for grabs.
Our latest ‘Golden Goal’ competition was the Champions League final between Atletico and Real Madrid and the winning minute was the 15th minute. The results were as follows: 15th min - €60: Bobby Dowling Jnr; 14th min - Stephen Nolan; 16th min: Stephen Nolan.
Thank you everyone for your support. We will also be running a Last Man Standing competition for the Euro 2016 and tickets are available from all coaches and committee members. It costs €10 per head and 50 per cent of the monies taken in will go to the winner. Please support.
Training for the Development Squad is on Saturday 11am-12pm. All sessions are €2 per head. New players (boys and girls) are always welcome and you can contact the secretary for further details at 087 6987653.
Two players from the club celebrate their birthdays in the coming week and they are both from the Under-14 team and they are Josh Odlum and Luke Synnott. Happy birthday, Josh and Luke, from everyone at Newtown Juniors F.C.
For all matters regards the club you can contact the secretary, Hughie, at 087 6987653 or by email at hughienolan@gmail.com. SOUTH EAST ROAD CLUB
Last Thursday night saw the final round of the Gorey league, with the south east road club coming out on top in the A4 race thanks to Wayne Byrne.
Wayne attacked on the first lap and showed great strength to stay away from the chasing pack to take a very fine solo win. This win gave Wayne third place overall in the league well done Wayne.
In the A1/2/3 race Liam Curley rode a great race finishing third on the night giving him second overall in the league a great achievement against some of the best senior riders in the county.
There will be a coffee spin for all members on the June Bank Holiday Monday keep an eye on our Facebook page for further details.
Our summer league starts on Wednesday, June 8, on the old N11 between Arklow and Gorey if any member is free to lend a hand please let any of the committee know .
Club spins continue every Sunday mornings leaving Fern Hill plaza at 9.30pm.
BRAY WANDERERS
Lotto - The results of this week’s lotto for the date of May 30 shall be in next week’s paper along with the results of up coming Sunday’s draw. This is due to the lotto being changed from the Sunday to Monday. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.
Fixture Change - The SSE Airtricity League Premier Division League fixture between Bray Wanderers and Shamrock Rovers originally scheduled for Saturday, July 30, will now take place on Friday, July 29, at the Carlisle Grounds with a kick-off time of 7.45pm.