WICKLOW ROVERS
The senior men made it five wins on the spin and six wins in seven when they recorded an excellent 3-2 away win over Ratoath Harps last Friday night.
The lads were 1-0 down at the break, somewhat against the run of play. They rectified that in the second period and deservingly drew level when Bryan Doyle fired home his first of the season.
It got better for Rovers on fifty eight minutes when Gareth Murphy nabbed his fifth of the season to put the lads 2-1 up.
Disaster struck when the home team levelled matters midway through the half. The lads showed their battling character as they retook the lead with thirteen minutes left when Luke Byrne smashed home his fifth of the campaign.
This proved to be the decisive goal as the lads saw out the remainder of the game to ensure they claimed three valuable points in their quest for promotion.
Our under 17 DDSL side had a good 7-3 away win over Sacred Heart, Stephen Finlay brought his tally for the season to twenty when he claimed an excellent hat-trick, at the top of the scoring charts Luca Rampersaud moved on to twenty three when he scored one, Stuart Cox moved on to seventeen when he nabbed a single with Patrick O’Keane [9] and Ronan Murray [3] completing the seven goal haul.
Our WDL under 17A’s went down to a disappointing 7-2 home defeat to Avonmore, the lads never got going in this game and will just have to put it down as a bad day at the office. Their goalscorers on the day were Sean Farrell and Nathan Sullivan. The 17B’s received a walkover from Roundwood as they couldn’t field a team.
In midweek action the under 14A’s continued their unbeaten run in local competition when they beat Greystones United 5-0 on Thursday night.
Jordan Younger just can’t stop scoring as he brought his season tally to thirteen with a brace, Callum Gibney made it six for the campaign when he nabbed a single with Tom Hodgkinson and Mark Hodgkinson notching one a piece to make it four and two respectively for the season.
Saturday’s junior action saw the under 12A’s defeat St Fiachs of Carlow 4-0 in a first leg quarter final Carlow/Wicklow cup game at Whitegates. Jack Macklin, Joshua Bishop, Brian McCaul and Tom Donoghue were all on the score sheet as the lads took a commanding lead to take to Carlow with them for the second leg.
In shield action the 12C’s had a comfortable 7-0 away win over Greystones United, Cian Doyle Hubbard scored a stunning four goals, James Dunne, Ben Doyle and Callum Hodgkinson all added singles in what was a fantastic all round team performance.
In the U12/13 Challenge cup our 13B’s fired ten past St Patricks in a 10-0 victory. Jake Nally helped himself to a splendid hat-trick, Peter Dunne netted a brace and there were singles from Harry Tobin Kelly, Ben Bowen, Charlie Phelan, Ryan McConnell and Ian Kavanagh.
Sunday’s action saw our 11A’s defeat Sporting Greystones 7-0 in the U12/13 Challenge cup, Cian Doyle Hubbard completed a fine solo goal haul of four goals, James Dunne. Ben Doyle and Callum Hodgkinson all added a goal each to complete the scoring. A special mention goes to Jack Wu, Jake Doyle and Luke Dunne who were excellent in the Rovers defence.
In the U14/15 Challenge cup our 15B’s made an incredible comeback in their away tie with Carnew, losing 3-0 after fifty five minutes the lads made an astonishing recovery to run out 4-3 winners in a seven goal thriller.
Mike Gleeson scored his first goals of the season when he bagged a brace, Adam Shepherd scored his fourth of the campaign with Evan Dwyer completing the scoring in a thrilling encounter.
Well we’re down to the business end of things in our Last Man Standing competition, after round 4 we are now left with 37 players left standing. The biggest casualties were the 16 players that went out after Newcastle lost at home to Bournemouth, a further 3 players made their exit after Southampton lost at home to Burnley with a single player going out after Leicester drew 2-2 with Stoke.
The big name casualty in round 4 was previous winner James Nolan, two previous winners Greg Dunne and Jonathan Lewins are still in battling to become the first player to win the competition for a second time [no pressure Greg and Jonathan]. Of the players to progress 22 went with Tottenham, 8 with Liverpool, 4 with Everton, 2 with Huddersfield and a single player on Man City.
Anyone with information for the club notes or the club website can contact me at 0879108706 or e-mail me at jimmy.nolan09@ hotmail.com
For all news regarding the club, check out the club website at www. wicklowrovers.com or the club facebook page.