WICKLOW ROVERS
Our Leinster Senior side maintained their recent good winning run with a good 4-1 victory away to FC Transylvania. Against a strong wind in the first half the lads went in at the interval a goal behind.
Things weren’t looking good for the lads as the minutes clicked by in the second half in what was proving to be a scrappy affair. But with eleven minutes remaining Rovers struck, a deep cross from Rikki Quinn found the incoming Mark Johnson who stooped to head home the equaliser.
Four minutes later Rovers went in front when Ciaran McGettigan was quickest to react when he pounced to fire home into the bottom corner of the net.
The lads were now pushing their opponents back and the insurance goal came more or less straight away when Tommy Kelly bundled the ball home after good work by Mark Johnson and Ciaran McGettigan. It was Ciaran McGettigan yet again who put the gloss on a good result when he scored a fine individual goal as he picked the ball up some 35 yards out, ran at the defence beating three players before coolly slotting home to make it 4-1.
This win keeps the lads firmly in the title and promotion mix. On the day Mark Johnson, David O’Connor and Rikki Quinn stood out for Rovers.
Our Wicklow League side recorded an excellent 5-0 away win over Arklow Celtic, after losing at home to the same opponents on the opening day of the season this result just shows how much this young team has come on since they found their feet in the Premier division. Goals from Riain Sweetman, Brian Harrington, Hillary Khumbalo, Jamie Power and the fifth coming in the form of an own goal gave the lads all three points in an outstanding performance.
On Friday night our under-16s were beaten 6-1 by Rathnew under the lights at Whitegates.
Rathnew proved way too strong for the lads on the night with Robert Cherry scoring the Rovers consolation goal.
Saturday’s junior action saw the 12As kick off their season in style with a superb 6-0 home win over Arklow Town A at Whitegates. A brace from Josh McCall and singles from David Johnson, Sam Behan, Sean Patrick Guerin and Aaron Fitzsimons got Rovers season off to a perfect start.
The 12Cs lost 4-1 to Roundwood but to their credit their performance deserved a closer score line. Peter Duke was the Rovers goal scorer on the day.
An understrength under-14 side travelled to take on Avonmore and came home with an excellent three points in a fine 3-0 win. Danny Kavanagh fired home two goals with Charlie Czwalina notching the other in what was a fantastic all-round team performance. A special thank you to Filip Stypula from the under-13s for helping out on the day.
Sunday’s action saw the 13As go down 3-1 to Arklow Town A at the Rocky Road, Arklow proved to be more clinical in front of goal and that in the end was the difference between the two sides. Finn Dunne netted for Rovers.
The under-15s kicked off their season in impressive style when they recorded a 6-0 win over near neighbours Rathnew. A brace from Steven Gormley and singles from Sam Culleton, Jack Noble, Ryan McConnell and Ruairi Jenkinson paved the way for an excedllent win. Also well done to team captain Aaron Nolan who kept a clean sheet on his return from a broken arm
The club will be running an Easter camp, it will run from Tuesday, April 14, to Friday, April 17. The camp will run from 10am to 2pm daily and will take place at Whitegates. The camp is open to girls and boys from the age of four years upwards. The cost to take part is €40, you can contact Johnny Dunne at 087-7802098 or Robbie Dover at 0871768264 to register or alternatively you can contact any committee member.
All participants will receive an Easter egg on the final day of the camp. All participants should bring a packed lunch, drink, rain jacket, football, football boots and shin guards. Registration forms can also be downloaded from the home page of the club website at www. wicklowrovers.com.
The club are running a St Patrick’s Day raffle with the draw been held in the clubhouse prior to the St Patrick’s Day parade. First prize is €300, second prize is €200, third prize is a €100 voucher for O’Reilly’s Hardware, fourth prize is afternoon tea for two at Tinakilly House, fifth prize is a family pass x 10 swims at Coral Leisure with many more prizes on the day. Tickets are €2 each or three for €5. All teams should have their tickets by now, we ask that you do your best to try and sell your allocation.
Our Last Man Standing competition moves on to round three next week, at the time of going to print we had 39 players definitely through with another 10 players on Leicester in the Monday night game hoping to join them. Wolves (23), Tottenham (3) and Southampton (2) were the teams that let players down at the weekend while Liverpool (24), Sheffield Utd (8), Arsenal (6) and Chelsea (1) were the teams whose selections saw them progress to round three.