WICKLOW ROVERS
Senior action in the club this week was confined to the ladies and the under-17s.
First up were the ladies as they took on Enniskerry at Berryfield, the girls went into this game against second in the table Enniskerry as complete underdogs after conceding 10 goals to their opponents when they last met at the Whitegates.
Add to this the girls were without top scorer Rachel ‘The Goal Machine’ Bolger and midfielder Deirbhle Geraghty plus one or two players were carrying niggles into the game, you can see the task ahead of them.
The girls started well with both Niamh O’Brien and Nicole Hubbard having chances. The home team broke the deadlock with a superb strike 10 minutes before the break to go in at half time one up.
The second half was a very even affair with the girls more than a match for their opponents. Unfortunately for the girls they conceded two goals in the latter stages of the match to lose out 3-0.
On the night it was a toss up between Lucy McGettigan and Louise Johnson for player of the match. Also impressive on the night were Niamh O’Brien, Charmaine Higgins and Saoirse O’Reilly.
The under-17s made it two wins on the bounce when they saw off Leicester Celtic 5-0 on Sunday morning. There was no doubt the lads were the best team on the day as they controlled the game from start to finish and when the chances came their way they were clinical in front of goal.
Luca Rampersaud and David Ghiurcan both fired home two each with Patrick O’Keane completing the five goal haul with a single.
Midweek junior action saw the under-14Bs play out a thrilling 3-3 draw with Greystones Utd, David Lally fired home a brace with Ethan Allen scoring one in a highly entertaining game.
Saturday’s junior action saw our under-12As make the long journey to Abbeyleix in Laois worth while as they made a smooth passage to round two with a comfortable 6-1 win, Kai Fitzsimons and Louis Malcomson smashed home two goals each with Oscar Malcomson and Steven Gormley adding singles in what was an excellent all round team performance.
Our under-12B team came up against a very classy outfit in the shape of Kilcullen in the first round of the SFAI cup, the lads went down 9-1 but to their credit they never dropped their heads and battled right up to the final whistle.
The Kildare side were very strong in every department. Rovers did however have some consolation when Ryan McConnell scored the goal of the game with a cracking effort.
The under-15Bs suffered a 5-2 defeat to Arklow Town A in the Rocky Road, on a pleasant day for football both teams served up some good football. Thomas O’Neill blasted home two goals to bring his tally now to three in two games.
On Sunday the under-13As went down 2-0 to Naas in the National Cup in what a very tight affair, the first half saw Rovers have the majority of the possession but they got picked off on the counter attack on two occasions.
The second period saw Rovers push forward in search of a way back and they definitely had the chances to get back into the game but on the day luck wasn’t on their side.
Our under-13 girls made their debut in the Metropolitan Girls League and kicked it off with an excellent 3-0 away win over Mount Merrion, this was an excellent display from the girls with team captain Katie Marah putting in a girl of the match display driving her team on through out.
Molly Sweeney helped herself to a brace with Katie Marah adding the other. The under-14As received a walkover from Kinnegad in their National Cup fixture. Our under-14Bs were involved in a 10-goal thriller with Roundwood with the lads coming out on top 6-4, the triple strike threat of Ben Free, Ethan Allen and David Lally were at it again with all three players scoring two each to make it 15 goals between them in only three games.
The under-15As continued their good start to the season with a 3-0 win over Bridge Utd in the National Cup, Paul Marah, Rory O’Brien and Tom O’Shea nabbed the goals to put the lads in round two.
Our Last Man Standing competition competition saw no surprise exits at the weekend, maybe Man Utd’s defeat to Watford could be classed as a mild surprise.
Anyway 12 players did make their exit from the competition, Man Utd [5], West Ham [3], Chelsea [1], Hull [1], Swansea [1] and Sunderland [1] were the selections that let them down.
Selections that saw players progress to round two were Man City [70], Tottenham [60], Everton [38], Arsenal [14], Leicester [11], Crystal Palace [6] and Southampton [2].
This means we have 201 players in round two, please remember when you receive the fixtures for round two you should submit your selection by 7pm on Thursday night.