CLUB CALL
WICKLOW ROVERS
Well for the second week running Mother Nature decimated football within the club.
We even had less games than last week with all our home matches falling victims of the heavy rain we had. Of all the games that were scheduled the only game to beat the weather was the under-14As match in the quarter-final of the under-15 Premier Cup away to Arklow Town A.
The lads recorded an excellent 2-0 win against their older opponents to progress to the semi-final. Already assured of their place in the Division 1 Shield final at the year above their natural age group, the lads are now off to a good start in the premier grade cup with this win.
Eoin Doyle nabbed the first to bring his tally to 12 for the season with Adam Farrell notching the second goal for his first of the campaign and a safe passage to the semi-final in what was an excellent all round team performance. The lads will now take on the winners of Roundwood and Coolboy Rangers in the semi-final.
Our Last Man Standing competition has now reached the fourth round stage. In round three, the biggest surprise was the game that was suppose to be the banker bet of the week and unfortunately for 39 players it was hot favourites Man Utd who let them down when they could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to Bournemouth who played the whole second half with 10 players.
West Brom’s recent good form tempted eight players to select the Baggies to see off Crystal Palace but the Eagles ran out 2-0 winners spelling the end of the road for those eight players.
One player went with Burnley but after a five-goal thriller the clarets lost out 3-2 to Swansea.
Of the teams that helped their supporters through it was Man City who disposed of Sunderland at the Stadium of Light 2-0 to give 24 players a place in round four. Champions Leicester made 18 players happy with a 3-1 victory over Hull to ease their relegation worries and help those 18 players progress to next stage.
Swansea’s 3-2 win over Burnley saw six players move into the fourth round with Stoke providing a safe passage for four players after they saw off Middlesbrough 2-0. Tottenham’s 3-2 win at home to Everton meant three players were safely through to the next round. Liverpool’s return to winning ways when they defeated Arsenal 3-1 saw two players move on to the fourth round with one player progressing on the back of Southampton’s exciting 4-3 win over Watford.
At the time of going to print, 58 players were safely through to round four, while 48 players had made their exit from the competition with nine players waiting on Chelsea in their game with West Ham on Monday night to see if they could make it through to round four.
There was three big name casualties in round three with past champions Jonathan Lewins, James Nolan junior and Hughie Nolan going out of the competition.
Other past champions Anthony Earls and Jim Foley have made it through to round four as they look to become the first player to win the competition for a second time. Good luck to all remaining players.
There is no Last Man Standing competition this week due to the FA cup and a reduced premiership programme.
The club are running an Easter Camp from Tuesday, April 18, to Friday, April 21. It runs from 10 am to 2 pm daily in the Whitegates. The cost of the camp is €45, a ball will be given to all participants at the start of the camp and a medal will be presented on the final day. There is also a reduced rate for two or more kids from the same family.
Registration forms can be picked up at the Saturday morning academy, from any committee member or alternatively you can download a form on the club website at www. wicklowrovers.com. Check out club facebook page and club website for more details.
Everyone at Wicklow Rovers AFC and everyone connected with our under-9 white team would like to thank John Burke and Burkes Hardware and DIY for their kindness.
The club’s weekly junior soccer academy continues every Saturday morning [weather permitting] under the watchful eye of senior club coach Johnny Dunne.
The academy takes places on the all weather pitch on the club grounds at the Whitegates and is open to all kids from the age of 3 years to 8 years.
The academy starts at 11am and finishes at 12. There is no need for registration so you can come along to any week that suits.
Come along and learn the skills of football while having fun and enjoyment, it’s a great way of meeting new friends as you learn the skills as you get prepared for the introduction to participate in organised league football in the coming years.
Anyone with information for the club notes or the club website can contact me at 087 9108706 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.
BRAY WANDERERS
Lotto - There was no jackpot winner on March 5. Numbers drawn were 1, 2, 10, and /27. €30 lucky dip winners were: Mick Curley c/o Bray Lakers, Susan Murphy c/o Bray Lakers, Amy Caulfield c/o Michael Caulfield, John Keating c/o S. McGuire. P. Fitzgerald c/o Bray Lakers.
Next week’s jackpot is €8800. Lotto tickets can be purchased in the club shop at home games or you can play the Bray Wanderers Lotto on line at our web site www.braywanderersfc.ie.
Fixture - Bray Wanderers have two Premier Division games this weekend. On Friday, Wanderers are away to Bohemians at Dalymount Park. Kick off is 7.45pm. On Monday, Wanderers are at home to Drogheda United. Kick off is 7.45pm at the Carlisle Grounds.
Supporters can purchase tickets in advance for home games online at http://braywanderersfc.ie/tickets-info/ . Tickets can also be purchased online by using any mobile or tablet devices and can be presented directly at the turnstiles on your mobile or tablet device with no printing of tickets required. Ticket prices for the 2017 season are Adults €15, Students/OAPS €10, Children u12 €5. Students should note that proof of student ID will be requested upon entry at the stiles.
Season Tickets - Bray Wanderers 2017 season tickets are now on sale from the Carlisle grounds. Adults €200, Senior citizen/Student €120. Child €50 (includes free home or away jersey and membership to the Young Gulls Club). Season tickets can also be purchased on line through the club web site.
Seagulls Members Club - The new Seagulls members club is now taking applications for membership. 2017 Season ticket holders get free membership.
Membership is €10. Membership forms will be available in the club shop at Friday’s home game. Members will get discount on buses to away matches, vote for Player of the month and year, and be eligible to attend Bray Wanderers Stakeholders meetings.
Under 19s - Bray Wanderers under-19s begin their 2017 Southern Elite Division campaign on Saturday, March 11, away to UCD. Kick off at the AUL complex is 2.00pm. New Head Coach Marc Kenny has finalised his back room team and squad.
Marc will be assisted by Assistant Manager; Jason McGuinness, Assistant Coach; Karl Keogh, Goalkeeper Coach; David Bourke and Logistics/ Kit; David Kenny. The Squad for the season is: Goalkeepers – Malachy Doyle, Nathan Wolohan, Ryan Brown. Defenders – Ross Broderick. Craig Morley, Cian Gilson, Kieran Butler, Jack Whelan, Calvin Rogers, Dylan O’Connor. Midfielders – Gavin Howard, Shane Heffernan, Stephen Morley, Luke Clucas, Cormac Kelly, David Gilshenan, Yanis Boulmelh, Forwards – John Moorehouse, Dion Agbonze, Avis Gawiyu, Connal Flood, Jamie Aherne.
ARKLOW TOWN FC
Well done to our U17 DDSL Team (kindly sponsored by the Arklow Bay Hotel) who have won the DDSL Preseason Tournament...a tournament they have taken part in since January. Winning their final game against Shankill FC ‘A’ with a confident score line of 3-1, it was Pierce Lawlor and Dan Fitzsimmons with a brace who found the back of Shankill’s net on the day. Well done to the boys, their management team of Jim Barnes and Robbie Moore and to Shankill FC who were worthy opponents on the day.
This team, having played in the DDSL Major One Division last season, have now been promoted to the Major Division for this new season. We wish them all the best of luck in their league campaign ahead.
We were most grateful to welcome two very special visitors to our grounds in Bridgewater Centre Park on Sunday morning.
Jan and Frank ter Burg from HTC Zwolle Soccer Club in Holland met with Club Chairman Joe Ledwith and Committee members John Scanlon, Owen Moore, Joe Byrne and Lorna Dempsey.
They were pictured with the winning Cup Arklow Town brought back with them from Holland from a winning tournament with HTC Zwolle in 2000.
This Cup holds pride of place in our clubhouse and very special memories for those players who competed in the tournament.
We want to extend a sincere word of thanks to Jan and Frank for paying us a visit. We have exciting news coming very soon about games with the Dutch club.
Our U14A DDSL team, under the direction of John Scanlon and Owen Moore, welcomed Newbridge Town to our Astro facility in Bridgewater Centre Park on Saturday afternoon for a preseason game.
Our U14A team played a great passing game, which resulted in a 3-1 win to Town. Goalscorers on the day were Sean Clare, Marcel and Leigh Hannigan.
Well done all and thank you to the Newbridge team, managers and supporters for travelling to Lamberton for the game.
Our U14 girls team travelled to Rosslare Strand on Saturday and saw our girls walking away 6-5 winners over the Rosslare outfit. A well deserved win from these girls who are a pleasure to coach and their work rate on the pitch is a joy to watch.
Full match report and pictures from this game can be found on our Facebook page.
With the wet weather over the weekend causing a nuisance, all of our away WDSL games were called off.
We are most fortunate to house a fully certified FAI Astro All Weather facility on our grounds in Bridgewater Centre Park.
This ensures that all our home games, regardless of the weather conditions can go ahead. Only two of our representative teams played this weekend as these had been fixtured for home.
Our U8 team met with St. Anthony’s and had a most enjoyable game of football. This up and coming young group of footballers are most certainly getting into their stride and loving their time on the pitch. Well done boys!
Our representative DDSL Teams, who have trained hard and played many friendly games throughout preseason, are now looking forward to starting their league campaigns this weekend. We at the club wish them all every success in their games.
Don’t forget our Little Astros Club which is held on our Astro facility in Bridgewater Centre Park every Saturday morning from 10am until 11am.
Aimed at boys and girls aged between four and seven years old, it is a fun introduction to football in a very safe and secure environment and is overlooked by fully qualified coaches.
These sessions are completely free of charge. Newcomers are always most welcome.
Our IPK Goalkeeping Training sessions continue this Friday evening for all our Club Goalkeepers. These sessions are free of charge and provide specialised training for all our goalkeepers, who hold an integral position on the pitch.
Our weekly Bingo is held in our main clubhouse in Lamberton every Thursday night at 8.30pm. A great evening’s entertainment for all with lots of cash prizes on offer on the night. Do drop up to join in.
Please check out our Facebook page at The Town- Arklow Town FC for lots more news, pictures and match reports. Thank you all for your continued support of our club.
NEWTOWN JUNIORS
Only two of team’s games survived the weather and both games resulted in good wins for Newtown Juniors.
The under-10s travelled to Tullylusk to take on Avonmore and came home with an excellent 3-2 win. They had led 3-nil thanks to goals from Matthew Doyle, Jake Robertson and Cormac Chance but two late goals from the home side produced an exciting finish to the game.
Among the players who played well were Cillian Coffey, Dylan Dunleavy and Evan Fahey.
After our pitch was deemed unplayable our 15s had to play their cup quarter-final away to Greystones and to be fair they didn’t let it get to them as they made the semi-finals after a 5-0 victory.
A first half goal from Ryan Smillie was added to by second half goals from Luke Kelly (2), Andrew McMahon and Alex Byrne.
On the day among those who starred were Josh Odlum, Sean Douglas and Stephen Doran.
A couple of our players are currently on the injured list and we wish them all a speedy recovery to action i.e. Pat Carey and Liam Kinlan from the under-9s and Conor Kavanagh from the under-15s.
Well done to Martin Kelly and Darragh Heffernan (U-12) and Bobby Dowling and Jason Carthy (U-13) who all lined out for the WDSL in Inter-League games away today South Dublin. Bobby captained his age group in their match. Well done all.
We only have the one player from the club celebrating a birthday this week and he is Shane Synnott from the under-13s. Happy birthday Shane from everyone at Newtown Juniors F.C.
The Development Squad is back in action and they practise every Saturday morning 10-11am indoors in the Community Centre (Sports Hall).
Cost per player each week is €3. Regards the Indoor Hall all players must wear indoor/astro runners and also must adhere to all rules governing goalpost safety etc. The teams have confirmed their training times for the week beginning Monday 6th March 2017
Dev. Squad on Saturday 11th March 10-11am; Under 8’s on Wednesdays 6-7pm (8th March); Under 9’s Thursdays from 6-7pm (9th March); Under 10’s on Tuesdays 6-7pm (7th March); Under 11’s Wednesdays from 7-8pm (8th March); Under 13’s Wednesdays from 5-6pm (8th March); Under 15’s Thursdays from 7-8pm (9th March).
All members are reminded that the remainder of Membership Fees for the season 2016/17 are now due. Please organise any outstanding payment with your child’s respective coach or any committee member. Thank you.
The results of last week’s “Golden Goals” competition were as follows for the cup final between Manchester United and Southampton - 19th Minute - €60 Carlo Duggan; 18th Minute - €20 Stephen Nolan; 20th Minute - €20 Hollie Campbell. Well done to the winners and many thanks to all who bought tickets.
Our latest Last Man Standing competition started last weekend and we had 93 players at the starting line meaning that the winner of the competition will win €465.
Going into the Monday night game where four players have pinned their hopes on Chelsea to win away to West Ham we lost 45 players so far in Week 1 After Manchester United could only manage a draw with Bournemouth meaning 38 players exited in one foul swoop.
Week 2 fixtures will be for the weekend beginning Saturday, March 18, as next weekend sees the sixth round of the FA Cup. Many thanks to everyone for their continued support.
For further information on all matters Newtown Juniors F.C. please contact the s ecretary at 0876987653 or by email to hughienolan@gmail.com andandyou can also follow the club on our Facebook and Twitter pages.
EAST COAST TKD
After taken home 29 medals from the Scion Championships in Cork and 14 from the UK nationals, we’re not resting on our laurels, we’re training harder.
Anyone who wants to be part of a winning team we are in community hall Newtown every Tuesday 7.30pm till 9pm and Thursday from 7pm till 9pm. Beginners always welcome. We also have a special class for young kids called KUBZ (four to seven-year-olds)
Our Taekwondo instructors are Internationally recognised and Garda vetted for more info call 087 9897217 or visit us Facebook (East Coast TKD) or why not call up to the community hall on our training nights Tuesday and Thursday from 7pm till 9pm.