WICKLOW ROVERS

The senior men played the first competitive game under the new floodlights last week when they took on one of the title favourites Enniskerry.

Both sides provided some excellent attacking play in the first period with both sides having penalties saved, Alan Power put Rovers in front when he powered low into the bottom left corner.

Things got better when they doubled their lead when Luke Byrne was quickest to react on a defensive error to round the keeper and slot home to make it 2-0. Just before the break Lar Newsome pulled off that excellent penalty save.

The second half was a much tighter affair, the Wicklow rearguard of Jim Foley, Dave Rowan, Rikki Quinn and Paul Alexander were rock solid with keeper Newsome also at the top of his game.

The away side pulled one back with fifteen minutes left but the lads held on to claim three valuable points. On Friday night the lads claimed a hard earned point in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Mullingar Athletic, they went 1-0 up when Luke Byrne fired home.

The away side were level within a minute which is the way it stayed till the break. Mullingar scored two quick goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half to go 3-1 up.

Rovers battled back and were rewarded when Hugh Humby blasted to the roof of the net and Luke Byrne nabbed his second and Rovers third to make it 3-3 to earn a share of the spoils.

Considering the lads were without four regulars and were 3-1 down this has to be seen as a point gained. On the night Lar Newsome, Jim Foley and Luke Byrne stood out for Rovers.

The under-17s went down 4-0 to Palmerstown in their first game in the DDSL, despite the lads having most of the possession through out the Dublin side were more clinical in front of goal.

The junior section kicked off on Saturday and it was no surprise to see it absolutely lash out of the heavens on the very first day of the season.

Despite the heavy rain on Saturday we did have some action, the under-12As recorded an excellent 3-0 away win in the premier shield against the holders St Anthonys in their own backyard.

Steven Gormley, Sam Greene and Jack Noble scored the Rovers goals in a very impressive team display. Another impressive display came from our under-12Bs who defeated St Patricks in Kilcashel on a 4-0 score line.

Charlie Phelan smashed home a fantastic hat-trick with Harry Tobin Kelly adding a single to claim all three points in a very clinical performance.

A special mention goes to Cormac Fitzsimons who pulled off a brilliant save from a penalty at a crucial stage of the game.

The under-13Bs got their shield campaign off to a winning start with a thrilling 3-2 away win over St Anthonys, Zak Hastie, Zach Callery and Luke Dunne all notched one a piece in what was a highly entertaining match.

Our under-14Cs came up against a strong Coolboy side and went down 6-1, Adam Shepherd scored the lone Rovers goal, in truth the lads gave a hundred percent and could have added one or two more goals.

On Sunday the under-13As got off to a flyer with a 4-0 win over Wolfe Tone, Callum Gibney, Adam Kearns, Conor Hunter and Tom Hodgkinson all scored in a very impressive display.

Our under-14As and our under-15Bs came up against each other in their first game of the season in the under-15 Division 1 Shield, the Under-14As ran out 3-0 winners but the game could have been a lot closer.

Ross Quinn hit a brace with Adam O’Reilly scoring the other. This game was played out in a very sporting manner, well done to both sets of players and their management teams.

Our under-15As got off to a good start when they claimed all three points in a 2-0 away win over Roundwood, Paul Marah and Rory O’Brien hit the rigging for the lads.

The under-16As got their season off to a great start with a 3-0 away win over Roundwood, Sean Leonard fired in a brace with Conor Leonard hitting a single in a good all round team performance.

The under-16Bs drew 3-3 away to St Anthonys, Dylan Moorhouse scored two and Ryan Murphy got one in a sixgoal thriller which kept the watching public entertained through out.

The next club registration nights will be held in the clubhouse in the Whitegates on Friday, September 16, and Friday, September 30, from 7pm to 9pm, we would ask every club member to try to make one of these nights to get themselves registered as this will be the fifth and sixth registration nights to be held. Online payment of club membership is now also available on the home page of our club website at www.wicklowrovers.com

All entries for our Last Man Standing competition should be in at the latest by this weekend, fixtures will be sent out on Monday, September 12, to anyone whose registration has been received, thank you.