Magpies march on to Wicklow Cup semi-finals

NEWTOWN UNITED WICKLOW TOWN B 7 1

PREMIER DIVISION side Newtown United cruised to the semi-final of the Wicklow Cup after they thumped Wicklow Town B at Finlay Park last Sunday afternoon.

The Wicklow town venue hosted the second cup tie of the day as Wicklow Town B took on the Magpies, and the game started with excellent energy from both sides as both teams were looking to get an early opener and both sides went close in the opening 10 minutes of the first half.

The first opportunity came to Newtown striker Mark Fitzsimons who got on the end of a Dillon Carthy cross and with his first touch the striker tried to lob Wicklow keeper Paddy Reynolds who was just off his line.

Reynolds just got a hand to the ball to tip the ball onto the bar and Fitzsimons should have scored the follow up but fluffed at the rebound.

Wicklow Town had their fair share of chances in the opening minutes of the game, mainly coming from their talisman upfront Paddy Murphy, and it was indeed Murphy who opened the scoring for the home side on the 16th minute with an excellent finish.

The striker was becoming a handful for the Newtown defence throughout the first half and finally hit the back of the net with a fine finish past Newtown keeper Kian Turner.

Unfortunately for the home side, they did not lead for long as Newtown were awarded a penalty moments later after a trip in the penalty area led to referee Michael Kennedy pointing to the spot.

Dillon Carthy stepped up and stroked the ball into the left corner of the net giving Reynolds no chance; Newtown were back in the game.

Things went from bad to worse for the home side as their opponents doubled and then trebled their lead before the end of half with another goal from Dillon Carthy and one from Sean Hollavan.

Carthy was again involved in the build up play for the second goal as he skipped past two Wicklow defenders before squaring the ball back across goal to Sean Hollavan who couldn’t miss. The third came just minutes before halftime as Carthy struck again to give a 3-1 lead for his side as the first half ended.

As the second half began so did a massive brawl on the Wicklow Town sideline between the two players from both teams as Wicklow Town were unhappy with a tackle on Paddy Murphy.

It took referee Michael Kennedy a long time to calm both sides down, but in the end Kennedy handed out a number of yellow card to both sides.

There was heavy pressure from the home side on the Newtown defence as they pushed everyone forward to try and grab a goal and, although the home side went all out attack, they had little chances in front of the Newtown goal as the away side’s defence stood firm.

Pacey striker Ryan Cahill was added to Newtown’s attacking threat late in the second half as a substitute to try and catch their opponents on the break.

The striker gave his side another chance of a goal in the 75th minute when Cahil was taken down in the penalty area by Will Murphy who was then shown a red card as he was the last man and also caught Cahill without getting a touch on the ball.

Carthy again stepped up to take the peno and again slotted it to the keeper’s left corner to wrap up his hat-trick for the day.

Newtown continued to dominate and grabbed another three goals before the final whistle; these coming from both substitutes Cahil and Conor Odlum. Dillion Carthy turned provider again as he skipped past two defenders before slipping the ball to Cahil who slotted the ball into the net.

Cahil then turned provider himself as he set up Odlum after his lobbing effort clipped the ball and fell to Odlum who finished easily into the net.

The final goal from Evan Moran was the last nail in the coffin as Newtown secure yet another semi-final spot and after this performance they will give whoever they meet a serious headache in the semi-final.

Wicklow Town B: 1. Paddy Reynolds, 2. Will Murphy, 3. Gavin Caffrey, 4. Sean O’ Brien, 5. Mick Connor, 6. Conor Dickeson, 7. JJ Powers, 8. Eamon O’ Brien, 9. David O’Connor, 10. Paddy Murphy,

11. Keith Melia. Subs: Eric Conlon for Keith Melia (70min), Rian Dwyer for Eamon O’Brien (71min).

Newtown UTD: 1. Kian Turner,

2. Barry Davis, 3. Oisin Greenan,

4. Ross Davis, 5. Glen Carthy, 6. Matty Kennedy, 7. Sean Hollavan,

8. Martin Williams, 9. Evan Moran,

10. Mark Fitzsimons, 11. Dillion Carthy. Subs: Ryan Cahill for Mark Fitzsimons (68min), Conor Odlum for Martin Williams (70min), Dessie Waters for Mick Connor (80min).

Referee: Michael Kennedy