WICKLOW ROVERS
The senior men’s team entertained New Ross Town in the first round of the Leinster Junior cup last weekend and they made their exit after a 1-0 defeat.
In a forgettable first half there was little to get the big crowd excited, the only action of note came in the 44th minute when New Ross were awarded a soft penalty which they duly converted to go in 1-0 up at the break. Rovers created the first good opening in the second period when Sean Tobin thundered a header off the woodwork in the 53rd minute.
In the 67th minute Luke Byrne carved open the away defence when he worked a good one two with Maurice Dunne but could only watch in agony as his low drive went narrowly wide.
Rovers’ best player on the night Mark Johnson went close in the 75th minute when he ghosted past a couple of defenders but his shot was turned away by the keeper.
In the last ten minutes it was all Rovers, they had a great chance with six minutes left when they were awarded a spot kick, which unfortunately for the lads was saved very well by the goalkeeper.
Best on the night for Rovers were Dave Rowan who was solid at the back but man of the match goes to Mark Johnson who was fully committed in the challenge and led by example when driving his team mates on and was very unlucky near the end not to level matters.
Our under-17s lost 3-1 to league leaders Palmerstown, the lads got off to a bad start when they were caught cold after 30 seconds when the away side took the lead.
Soon after the Dublin side were two up and by the twenty minute mark it was 3-0. Palmerstown were reduced to ten men when one of their players received a red card for a late challenge and then dissent.
Early in the second half Rovers were reduced to 10 men when they had a player dismissed for a late challenge with Palmerstown also seeing the red mist as one of their players went for an early bath for his part in the ensuing scuffle.
Rovers pulled a goal back when Adam Cuddihy fired home an excellent free kick but they couldn’t breach the Palmerstown rearguard again.
In junior action on Saturday the under-11 green team have took to competitive football like a duck to water, this week they recorded their second successive 8-1 win when they defeated Avonmore.
Liam Burke hit a fantastic hat-trick, Brian McCaul notched a brace for the second week running with Joshua Bishop, Josh Butler and Charlie Czwalina all hitting singles.
The under-15Bs had a bad day at the office when they lost 6-1 to Aughrim Rangers, Daniel Murphy struck for Rovers for his first goal of the season.
On Sunday the under-12Bs were unlucky to lose 1-0 to Arklow Utd, the lads completely dominated the game but were hit on the break.
On the day Cormac Wadron came in for a special mention as he was impressive in both attack and defence through out the game.
Our under-13 girls recorded an excellent 2-1 away win over Malahide in the first round of the cup, this was a very impressive result for the girls in what was an excellent all round team display from them, Aimee Smith and Molly Sweeney hit the all important goals.
The under-13As continued their impressive run when they made it seven wins from seven when they beat Aughrim Rgrs 5-1, Tom Hodgkinson fired in two with Conor Hunter, Sean O’Meara and Brioc Doyle scoring one each.
The under-13Bs recorded a good 2-1 away win over Glencormac with goals from Ruadhrai Kelly and Oran Dempsey.
Our under-14As are another team with a one hundred percent record and they preserved that run with a 4-0 away win over Newtown, Connor Lewins and Ross Quinn both hit the back of the net twice to make it six wins from six.
The under-14Bs came into direct contact with their club mates from the ‘ C’ team and they ran out easy winners, the Bs scorers on the day were Scott Bushe [4], Reece Doyle [3], Lee Hamilton [2] and Arron Lynch [1] with Donal O’Donaghue replying for the C’s.
Our Last Man Standing competition is now down to 29 players, 19 players went out at the weekend, Everton [6], Arsenal [5], Tottenham [5] and Man City [3] were the causalities with West Ham [14], Liverpool [11], Leicester [2] and Stoke [2] providing safe passage for the 29 players that remain standing. Once again we would like to thank everyone who has supported our competition, your continuous support is very much appreciated. Good luck to all remaining players.
Everyone at Wicklow Rovers AFC would like to extend their sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Miriam O’Brien who sadly passed away recently, the O’Brien family are big supporters of our club with Miriam’s son Colin managing in our schoolboy’s section over recent years, our thoughts and prayers are with Miriam’s husband Hugh, daughters Derval and Grainne, sons Colin, Alan and Ian, all her grandchildren, her extended family and friends at this sad time.
May she rest in peace.