WORTHY WINNERS
Late burst enough to earn Rathnew a sweet victory
RATHNEW under-14s were victorious over league rivals Wicklow Rovers as they nabbed two late goals to seal the three points at Shamrock Park.
Rover’s had a very unfortunate start to the game when after ten minutes they were down to 10 players when Jack Ryan went down injured with what looked to be an awkward knee injury.
The defender hobbled off the pitch and did not return to play as he was unable to put pressure on his right leg. Rovers travelled without any subs which meant they had to play the remainder of the game with ten men.
Despite having less players, the away side did manage to put pressure on the Rathnew defence and could have grabbed the opener through Conor Hunter.
Hunter had the height advantage in the Rathnew penalty area and rose above everyone else to connect with his head from a corner kick, but unfortunately for the attacker his header went just over the bar.
With Rovers being down to ten men it obviously meant Rathnew were going to have more possession of the ball during the game which Rovers found difficult to handle in the first half.
Daniel Mbuza was causing serious problems for the Rathnew defence on the right wing cutting inside and getting shots off but failed to hit the target on a couple of occasions.
Mbuza almost set up Adam Byrne on the 30th minute when the winger cut inside and whipped in a cross to the back post towards Byrne, but Byrne’s effort was too tame and easy for Rovers keeper Conor Luddy.
Rovers managed to escape the first half with the game still in balance at 0-0, but would have to work tremendously hard to get something from the game and keep out a very attacking Rathnew side.
Rovers gained confidence early in the second half and started to get attacker Harry Boxhall into the game.
Boxhall was quick on his feet and had the pace advantage upfront so he became the focal point upfront for the Rovers players to work off when they gained possession of the ball.
Boxhall went on some great runs in the second half and almost opened the scoring on the 57th minute when he slotted the ball past Rathnew keeper Josh O’Connor, but the referee deemed him to be in an offside position before the ball came to him and the goal was disallowed.
Rovers were brave in their situation of having a player less and some teams would have parked the bus and try grind out a draw, but the away side kept attacking and tried to nick a goal against the run of play.
However, when they were attacking their defensive duties became sloppy and this led to Rathnew opening the scoring on the 68th minute through Ethan Snell.
The goal came from a free kick which was spilled by Conor Luddy to the feet of Snell who made no mistake and blasted the ball into the back of the net to make it 1-0.
With two minutes to play, Rathnew doubled their lead through another mistake at the back from Rovers.
The away side failed to clear a loose ball around the edge of the penalty area which meant Adam Byrne was free to volley the ball into the back of the net from close range.
It was a sour blow for the away side as they fought hard throughout the game and wouldn’t have been flattered to at least come away with a draw, but Rathnew were just to clinical in front of goal when taking their chances. Rathnew went away with the full three points, but by no means did the ten men of Wicklow Rovers make it easy for them.
Rathnew: 1. Josh O’ Connor, 2. Killian Mc Callister, 3. Ethan Snell, 4. Ryan O Toole, 5. Jack Haughton, 6. Dan Mbuza, 7. Ethan Power, 8. Scott Devlin,
9. Jack Hayden, 10. Zach O’ Connor, 11. Adam Byrne. Subs: Gonzelo Merdez for Ethan Power (61min).
Wicklow Rovers: 1. Conor Luddy,
2. Brioc Doyle, 3. Jack Rayn, 4. Adam Keirns, 5. Tomas Kennedy, 6. David Butler, 7. Tom Hodjkins, 8. Sean O’ Meara,
9. Conor Hunter, 10. Tiernan O’ Brien,
11. Harry Boxhall.
Referee: K. Neville