Grandy-stand finish
Dean nets late leveller to earn Carnew share of spoils
at Whitegates WICKLOW ROVERS CARNEW AFC 2 2
TWO red cards and a late equaliser saw Wicklow Rovers and Carnew AFC draw 2-2 in a controversial Wicklow Premier Division game at Whitegates, Wicklow, on Sunday morning.
In a fixture filled with entertainment, it took the first ten minutes for the teams to find their rhythm.
The first real chance of the game fell to Wicklow Rovers’ forward Luca Rampersaud.
Alan Power took hold of the ball down the wing and his floated cross was headed over the bar by Rampersaud, as the Carnew defenders did just enough to put him off.
On the far end of the pitch, Carnew almost scored an unlikely goal directly from a corner.
JJ McCrea’s cross just clipped the near post and came back out as the Rovers defence rushed to clear the ball. The ball came back to McCrea again whose cross was put away with a beautiful turn and volley into the bottom corner by Sean Murphy.
With the away side 1-0 up Rovers began to press for an equaliser, playing some beautiful pass and move football. Their mesmerising spell of play almost ended with a goal, but Jamie Power’s headed effort just missed the target after a great cross by Dan Harbourne.
Rovers showed they were more than capable of mixing it up though and came close again but this time from route one football.
Goalkeeper Ian Murphy gathered the ball and quickly punted it downfield, catching Carnew off-guard.
Alan Power took the ball down outside the box and slid it through for Rampersaud, but his shot went right into the hands of Carnew keeper Nathan Murphy.
Thirty-five minutes in, a long ball over the top from Rover’s Brian Harrington forced Johnny Smith to pass the ball back to Murphy who mistakenly picked it up, resulting in an indirect free-kick inside the Carnew penalty box. The free-kick was laid off to Rampersaud but his driven effort was again barely centimetres over the crossbar.
In the final minute of the first half, Alan Power was carded for a catching a Carnew player with a high foot, a booking which would come back to haunt the home side.
The second half began as the first ended, with Rovers having the lion’s share of possession and attacking opportunities.
Fifty minutes into the match their pressure would finally pay off when Rampersaud was pulled down in the box and the home side were awarded a penalty.
Simon Philips stepped up and drove the spot-kick into the left side of the goal as Rover’s finally reached level terms. Their joy would soon turn to frustration however, as only minutes later Power was handed a second yellow for catching his opponent in the back of the leg and Rovers were down to 10 men.
Rover’s immediately switched to a 4-4-1 formation and they were soon rewarded for not going overly defensive.
More great play from Rampersaud saw him take control of a stray ball and put Jack Kelly through on goal. Kelly’s shot was well saved by Murphy, but Jamie Power was on hand to knock in the rebound as Rover’s went 2-1 up despite their numerical disadvantage.
After going behind Carnew finally started to show their quality as they began to press forward and attack with more frequency. JJ McCrea dribbled his way into the Rovers box and pulled the trigger just as he lost his footing.
His chipped effort looked like it was going to be the equaliser, but the ball dropped just over the crossbar.
At the 70th minute mark however, it would be disaster for Carnew as Brendan McCrea was shown a straight red card after a coming together with some Rovers players.
The sending off caused yet another momentum swing as Rovers returned to the ascendancy.
It looked for certain that Rovers would put the game beyond all doubt with just ten minutes left on the clock.
Stephen Finlay instigated a nice one-two move before swinging a dangerous ball into the Carnew box. Stuart Cox met the ball with a crisp volley but again the effort breezed over in what must have felt like deja vu for the home team.
Five minutes from time Carnew’s ‘never say die’ attitude would pay off as they won a freekick well inside their own half.
With nothing to lose, all their big men got forward as Smith booted the free into the opposition box. Dean Grandy rose highest, headed the ball against the underside of the bar and followed it in to ensure he could scramble it across the line and give the game an unlikely 2-2 score line.
Despite a few minor chances in the dying minutes, the score would remain the same as the teams had to make do with a share of the spoils.
After the match, Wicklow Rover’s manager Boadhan Rampersaud gave a realistic assessment of the game.
‘It was a fair result in the end. Both teams worked hard and made mistakes on a difficult surface. I think we probably had the better chances in the game though, even when we were a man down,’ he said.
The result sees Carnew move to fifth in the league, only three points behind Wicklow Rovers having played three games less.
Meanwhile, Wicklow Rovers linger one place above them on ten points, eight behind table-toppers St Peter’s.
WICKLOW ROVERS:
1. Ian Murphy,
2. Eli Graham, 3. Fundi Milno, 4. Brian O’Sullivan, 5. Simon Philips, 6. Brian Harrington, 7. Alan Power, 8. Dean Noble,
9. Jamie Power, 10. Luca Rampersaud, 11. James Lang. Subs: 12. Dan Harbourne,
13. Stuart Cox, 14. Stephen Finlay, 15. Hillary Khumalo, 16. Jack Kelly, 17. Riain Sweetman.
1. Nathan Murphy, 2. Johnny Smith, 3. Eoghan Dolan, 4. Dan Nolan, 5. Dean Grandy, 6. Will Dixon, 7. Sean Murphy, 8. John Kavanagh, 9. JJ McCrea, 10. Keith Crosbie, 11. Conor Mullholland. Subs: 12. Brendan McCrea,
13. Rob Ryan, 14. Jack Kearney.
CARNEW AFC: