Bowen and Phelan fire Rovers to sweet victory over Town
WICKLOW TOWN WICKLOW ROVERS 1 2
THERE was little to shout about at Finlay Park on Saturday afternoon as Wicklow Rovers scraped past arch rivals Wicklow Town.
Both sides unfortunately lost a man apiece in the first half for fighting which briefly threatened to spill over but in the end, first half goals from Ben Bowen and Charlie Phelan got them over the line despite a late rally from Town lead by Billy Connors.
After 14 minutes, a mistake in the home defence saw Ben Bowen presented with a fantastic chance and he did not disappoint as he gave goalkeeper Aaron Nolan the eyes before poking it past him at the near post.
Four minutes later came the game’s ugly point as a player from each side clashed. A flurry of punches quickly ensued which prompted members of both sidelines to get involved and it briefly looked like it could become serious but thankfully it diffused as quickly as it had ignited. Both players received red cards from referee Liam O’Brien, who also banished both managers to the dressing rooms.
Rovers managed to double their lead before the interval as a cross from the right lead to a mixup between the defence and the goalkeeper.
The ball fell to Bowen who unselfishly laid it off to Charlie Phelan for the simplest tap-in of his young career.
Town lost goalkeeper Nolan to injury in the first period but his replacement proved a worthy deputy two minutes into the second period as a neat save denied Bowen his second of the game.
Town’s Lorcan Sinnott was found inside the penalty area in the 49th minute but he was pounced on by numerous Rovers defenders. He still managed to unleash a shot and Kacper Leper sprung himself to his left to push it away.
Within two minutes, the hosts would have a lifeline. A free kick was launched deep into the Rovers area and it bounced up nicely for Billy Connors who hammered it home to give his side nine minutes to force extra time.
They almost did so when Luke Olohan’s cross found Connors. The striker’s volley was deflected by Cormac Waldron but the deflection only sent it looping towards the top corner. An own goal was averted though as Leper plucked it out of the sky.
In the dying moments, Connors forced another fine save from Leper as they went down fighting.
Wicklow Town: Aaron Nolan, Lorcan Sinnott, Denis O’Brien, Luke Olohan, Keelan Darcy, Aaron Mathews, Dylan Vickers, Rhys Whelan, Billy Connors, Bill O’Brien, Adam Kelly, Kyle Gormley, Adam Byrne, Faolan McCarthy, Connor Kelly.
Wicklow Rovers: Kacper Leper, Peter Dunne, Cian Leonard, Cormac Waldron, Oliver Lawless, Ben Bowen, Tom Phelan, Jake Nally, Charlie Phelan, Ryan McConnell, Harry Tobin Kelly, Ian Kavanagh.
Referee: Liam O’Brien. Venue: Finlay Park.