CLUB CALL
BRAY WANDERERS
Lotto draw: There was no jackpot winner on 13/8/17. Numbers drawn were 2, 13, 14 and 27. €30 lucky dip winners were Kim McCormack c/o Bray Lakers, Michael Curley c/o Bray Lakers, Breda Mulhall c/o Hibo, Stan Griffin c/o Bray Lakers, Willie Robinson c/o Bray Lakers. Next week’s jackpot is €10,550. 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. Lotto tickets are just €2.00 each.
Fixtures: Bray Wanderers are at home to Drogheda United on Friday 18th August in the Premier division. Kick-off at the Carlisle Grounds is 7.45pm.
Match tickets: Supporters can now purchase Bray Wanderers match tickets in advance online at http://braywanderersfc.ie/tickets-info/. Simply print off your match ticket at home and avoid queues on match night. Tickets can also be purchased online by using any mobile / tablet devices and can be presented directly at the turnstiles on your mobile / 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.
Underage teams: Bray Wanderers under 19s defeated Cork City 4-0 at the Academy Grounds in Carrickmines last Saturday. Goal scorers were Jamie Aherne and Luke Rossiter who scored two goals apiece. The under 19s are away to Cabinteely on Sunday 20th August. Kick off at Stradbrook is 2.00pm.
The Bray Wanderers/St. Joseph’s Boys under 17 Academy team were defeated 3-2 away to Limerick FC last Sunday at University of Limierick. Jake Ellis scored both goals for Wanderers. The under 17 Academy team are at home to Wexford U-17s on Sunday 20th August at the Academy Grounds in Carrickmines.
The new under 15 National league kicks off next week-end. Bray Wanderers/St. Joseph’s Boys are away to Athlone Town on Saturday 19th August.
Fantasy Football: To enter the club’s fantasy football league the code is 474702-476466. Prizes are 1st: €250, 2nd: €100 & 3rd: €50 plus prizes for monthly prize winners. Don’t miss out enter your team today, entry is €5 and can be paid in the club shop on match nights.
NEWTOWN JUNIORS
Our Under 12’s were the first team from the club in action for pre-season when they took part in the inaugural WDSL Pre season Blitz last Saturday.
The competition was played in Rathnew and consisted of two groups of five teams and depending how teams got on in the group stages it determined the final competition they competed in. Our team short a few regulars due to holidays etc played five games under the 9v9 format and there results and scorers were as follows, lost 2-0 to Gorey Celtic, won 1-0 vs Roundwood (R. McMahon), lost 2-1 to Rathnew (R. McMahon), lost 3-0 to Coolboy Rangers and lost 1-0 to Avonmore.
All the games were close and gave the teams coaches an idea where they stand in regards preparation for the season ahead and the areas that need working on.
Well done to the squad that consisted of Aaron Hackett, Padraig Gammell, Jack Coughlan, Hannah Martin, Grace Murphy, Ryan McMahon, Aaron Cawley, Eoghan Fox, Max Synnott, Keira Farrelly and Patrick Martin and to their coach Rory Hackett. Also thanks to the parents etc who went along to support the team and also thanks to the WDSL (for running the competition) and Rathnew F.C. (for hosting the competition). It has also been announced by the WDSL that the kick off times for the various age groups will be as follows,
U8’s/U9’s: week-ending Saturday 16th/Sunday 17th September (PROV)
U10/U11 week-ending Saturday 9th /Sunday 10th September.
U12/U14/U16’s week-ending Saturday 2nd/Sunday 3rd September.
Regards the small sided games the WDSL are hosting a PDP course under the direction of Ruud Dokter from the FAI on Monday 28th August 2017 in Rathnew and all coaches from the club are invited to attend but must submit their name to the Secretary ASAP.
At the recent AGM of the WDSL it was decided courtesy of a vote to move the WDSL season to a calendar season. This means a year ahead of a directive from the FAI that the WDSL will have a “short season” followed by a “long season”. The “short season” will start beginning of September 2017 and finish the end of November 2017. The new season or long season will commence end of Feb/ beg. of March 2018 and will finish in November 2018. There will be breaks during the course of the season to facilitate state exams etc. We will post further details as we get them. Also in another initiative and also due to the amount of girls playing throughout the WDSL the league are looking at setting a girl’s league at U12 & U14 and if this venture proves successful the league will look to extend it to all age groups. The proposal is to run the girls football every two weeks and all players can double up on their mixed team within their club. Again as we get more information we will post it here.
The WDSL in conjunction with all the clubs in the league are running a fundraiser “The Kube” on Saturday November 18th 2017 in the Parkview Hotel in Newtown. It is hoped every club will enter at least one participant to take on the Kube. The entry fee is €300 per participant which each club must pay themselves or get sponsored. Sponsored cards are available at present through any committee member. As yet the club haven’t decided who will take on the Kube on behalf of the club but we have a couple of interested parties. Anything over €300 raised on the sponsor cards goes to the club and our participant/s stands to win up to €1500 for the club depending on how she or he does. Further information in the coming weeks.
As mentioned in the past couple of weeks some of our teams will be starting back pre-season training in the weeks ahead. The following are the teams who have confirmed dates as we go forward.
Development Squad (players born in 2011-2013) on Saturday 9th September @ 10-11am; U8’s (players born in 2010) to be confirmed; U9’s (players born in 2009) to be confirmed; U10’s (players born in 2008) training Saturday 19th August @ 10.30am; U11’s (players born in 2007) training Saturday 19th August @ 10.30am; U12’s (players born in 2006) training Thursday 17th August @ 7pm; U14’s (players born in 2004/2005) training Saturday 19th August @ 11.30am; U16’s (players born in 2002/2003) training Saturday 19th August @ 10.30am.
Regards training for all teams please make sure to communicate with your child’s respective coach/s as to availability/unavailability of your child for training (it does help a lot). Failure to train or notify your coach may result in not been able to play matches when they take place.
We are looking for new players for all age groups so if you have a girl or boy interested in playing please contact Hughie @ 0876987653 or by email to hughienolan@gmail.com and he will put you in touch with the respective coaches of the teams. Some teams may have midweek training over the course of the coming months but as yet dates have to be confirmed. Some teams are in the process of organising friendlies, one I know of is the U14’s playing Greystones away in the Archfield (ko tbc) on Thursday evening (17th Aug.)
As usual every year we are looking for individuals to come forward to take up positions in the club and this coming year will be no different. We will be looking for people to take up roles on the committee or to coach or assist with teams. It involves one or two hours per week at the maximum and would be greatly appreciated and would certainly ease the workload on those that are currently involved in the club. If you would be available for a role in the club or can help us in the running of the club please contact any of our committee members or coaches. If we don’t get people coming forward to take or assist with a team each season we may not be able to enter that team in the WDSL, so don’t hesitate get in touch with the Secretary now and he will give you further details.
On the birthday front we have two players from the Under 14’s team “blowing out the candles” in the coming week and they are Bobby Dowling and Jason Carthy. Happy birthday lads from at the Juniors.
For further information on all matters “Newtown Juniors F.C.” please contact the Secretary at 0876987653 or by email to hughienolan@gmail.com and you can also follow the club on our Facebook & Twitter pages.
WICKLOW ROVERS
Our senior men continued their pre-season warm up with a 3-3 draw with Shamrock Rovers [Wexford], the lads came out of the traps flying and raced in to a 2-0 lead. Gareth Murphy hit a cracker from distance to put the lads 1-0 up before leaving the field early with an ankle injury. Alan Delaney popped up with the second shortly after, at this stage the lads were playing some nice tidy football. It could have been three but the Shamrock keeper saved a Wicklow penalty.
The visitors hit back though with two goals of their own before the break to level matters. The second half was a very even affair, the Wexford side hit the front for the first time when they scored their third but the lads showed great character to battle back with an equaliser in the dying seconds from Mark Sullivan. This was a good all round team display from the lads and a great workout against a formidable side. The lads continued their good form in pre-season friendlies when they held Gorey Rangers to a scoreless draw in Gorey, this was another good work out against a side who finished third in the Wexford Premier Division last season only losing three games out of twenty. It was a closely fought game with neither side giving anything away. Another tough friendly for the lads, which will stand them in good stead for the start of the new season.
The senior ladies finished off their league campaign with a disappointing 4-1 defeat to bottom of the table Castletown Belles in Dundalk. The girls will now go into the group stages of the Subsidiary cup hoping to get their early season form back to put themselves into contention.
Due to popular demand and on request from parents the club have decided to run another camp from Monday 21st August to Friday 25th August, it will take place at Whitegates and will run from 10am to 2pm daily. A ball and medal will be presented to each participant and the cost of the camp is €50. For registration forms or further information please contact Johnny Dunne 087-7802098, Robbie Dover 087-1768264 or any committee member. Registration forms can also be downloaded from club website at www.wicklowrovers. com
Our senior men’s section have resumed training, the seniors will train every Monday and Wednesday nights in the Rocky Road, all players are requested to be there at 7.20pm with training starting at 7.30pm. During pre-season there will be training on a few Sunday mornings. All present, past and new players welcomed to attend.
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 Whitegates and is open to all kids from the age of 3 years to 8 years. The academy starts at 11 o’clock 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.
Wicklow Rovers AFC promote soccer for schoolboys/girls, youths and seniors men and ladies in the community, our club is growing all the time and any assistance with the help of running the club would be very much appreciated. At present we have a very hard working committee but we are always on the look out for people interested in helping out, the club are always on the look out for people who are interested in getting involved in soccer, whether its coaching and managing or on the executive committee or a sub committee, maybe you would just like to help as an assistant manager, help with fundraising or help just around the grounds or in anyway at all, don’t hesitate, get involved, anyone interested in helping out the club in anyway can contact any committee member. So if you’re interested in doing some work around the club please contact any of the following committee members, John Frazer, Paul Delaney, Johnny Dunne, Franny Copeland, Jimmy Nolan, Jason Harris, Mandy O’Neill, contact numbers can be found on the club website or alternatively you can private message our club facebook page.
Anyone with information for the club notes or the club website can contact me at 0879108706 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 BOWLS
Hostilities resumed after the Bank Holiday break with the Ladies Division 1 team travelling to Westmanstown last Wednesday a player short and unfortunately paying the price and coming home pointless. Vets 3 played St. James Gate at home last Thursday and were victorious by 3 points to 1. Our Division 1 team had a great victory away to Leinster last Saturday by 5.5 to1.5 and just need another point or two to retain their Division 1 status for next season.
This week sees Brian Dodd and his merry band of “12 Green Bottles” travel to Aer Lingus to take on the fly boys on their own runway in Division 4.
Division 6 are at home to Westmanstown on Wednesday night and on Thursday Vets 1 are away to Lerne. Saturday sees Division 1 at home to Blackrock and Division 2 away in Drumcondra to Lerne. Our Saturday Ladies team are away in Crumlin.
Sunday next sees the annual BBQ taking place and all members and friends are cordially invited to join in the fun.
Thanks to the Ladies Committee for once again organising this great social event. Congrats to Aidan Galvin and Terri McKeon the recent lotto winners.
The end of the season is fast approaching and everyone is asked to make a final push to ensure all teams finish as high as possible in their respective divisions.