Handsome victory
Wicklow side earn three precious points against Midland
WICKLOW U16 MIDLAND U16 2 1
WICKLOW secured three points at Travers Insurance Park on Saturday morning in a tight game against a tough Midlands side in the Subway Champions Plate.
Wicklow started the game much better than their opponents and looked the more likely side to open the scoring in the game. The Wicklow side had a lot of possession early on and had many chances to get the first goal of the game but couldn’t create anything to challenge Oisin Barron in goal.
Wicklow striker Oisin Kelly almost found the back of the net on the 33rd minute when he hassled the goalkeeper after an effort on goal, but the Wicklow man wasn’t quick enough to pull the trigger and the ball was cleared by the Midlands defence.
The windy conditions began to play a huge part in the game as both sides had to play the ball on the ground or else suffer the fate of the wind taking the ball on its own course. Ronan Gilpin and Tomas Kennedy had some chances after the 20-minute mark in the first half to grab a leading goal in the game but their shots on goal were a little tame for the Midlands shot-stopper Oisin Barrow.
Just before the break, Wicklow thought they had snatched the lead in the game as midfielder William Moorehouse’s shot was saved by Barrow, Ronan Gilpin followed up with a rebound shot and found the back of the net but the referee deemed him to be in an offside position, the goal looked legit so the Wicklow man must have been just marginally offside by an inch.
Disappointment for Wickow as they would have gone in at half time with a one-goal lead, but it remained 0-0 at half time.
Right from the second-half whistle Wicklow took the game to Midlands and sought out a leading goal, Oisin Kelly found the back of the net on the 43rd minute. Kelly rose above everyone in the penalty area to nod home a well-delivered corner from Adam Byrne.
Wicklow began to take full control of the game with some excellent passages of play they had majority of possession, but just as Wicklow became comfortable Midlands struck back with a goal against the run of play through Gary Merriman. Merriman made a great turn in the penalty area before firing past Vanderhijden in the Wicklow goal. Midlands were back in the game with ten minutes left to play.
Wicklow didn’t let their heads drop and kept pushing for a winning goal, and finally with only a few minutes remaining they unlocked the Midlands defence with a thunderous shot from Glen Broughan. Broughan was on the edge of the penalty area when the Midlands defence cleared the ball, but unfortunately for the away side, they only cleared it as far as Broughan who took the shot on the first time and found the top left corner with an excellent effort. Barron in goal had no chance as the ball nestled into the top corner.
Wicklow took control again after the goal and shut up shop for the remaining minutes to finalise the result and gained a great three points.
WICKLOW:
1. Adam Vanderhijden, 2. Ryan O’ Neill, 3. Rory Tallon, 4. Shane Byrne, 5. Glen Broughan, 6. Tomas Kennedy, 7. William Moorehouse, 8. Adam Byrne, 9. Ronan Gilpin. 10. Ethan Power,
11. Oisin Kelly, 12. Luke Dunne. 13. James Woolmington. 14. Brioc Doyle, 15. Connor Doyle, 16. Rory Hannon.
1. Oisin Barron, 2. Eddy Bello, 3. Scott Mannion, 4. Jamie Buckley,
5. Luke Smith, 6. Gary Merriman, 7. Oisin Fogarty, 8. Ian Meating, 9. Alex Rosney,
10. Jayden Odemosu, 11. Rian Moran, 12. Daniel Connaughton, 13. Evan Hamilton,
14. Calvin McComack, 15. Lorcan Grennan, 16. Josh Finnerty.
MIDLANDS:
March 28, at 8pm in aid of the Course Development Fund. Buy a horse for €20 or 3 for €50.