Gutsy Arklow lose narrowly
Brave effort falls just short
ARKLOW RFC NEWBRIDGE RFC 13 15
THIS was possibly Arklow’s last match of the 2017/18 season and it was a season that was far too long with too many interruptions from weather.
It was not possible to maintain any consistency in play or players given the circumstances.
Arklow played this match with determination and skill and were unlucky to lose by two points to a team from a higher division.
Matters got off to a bad start when their opponents turned up without any hooker, forcing the referee to play uncontested scrums which immediately was to Arklow’s disadvantage.
The home side started great with a super break by Ben Diaper from a Newbridge line out in the Arklow half.
Ben went all the way to the Newbridge try line and then after very good rucking by the Arklow pack they scored a hard earned try.
Arklow again were rewarded for the pressure on Newbridge with a penalty which was well struck to leave the home side leading by 8-0.
Newbridge hit a purple patch and had Arklow under pressure for a long period and scored a good try and conversion to be in arrears of a single point.
The pressure continued from Newbridge and they struck another penalty to now lead 10 points to Arklow’s eight points. So finished a very active first half.
A poor start by Arklow in the second half kept them under the hammer and Newbridge scored another converted try to stretch their lead to 15-8.
It took Arklow too long in this second half to get on top, but when they did they were very strong and attacked the Newbridge line and scored a good try and narrowly missed the conversion.
This game went all the way to the wire but Arklow had one hand tied behind as the home side would have had a competitive scrum.
Arklow were penalised for having a full team and Newbridge were rewarded for turning up short a vital player on any rugby team.
This has been a tough year for Arklow in terms of results as they played in a challenging and tough league from Birr to Wexford, but in the end Arklow maintained their Division 2 status which was the most important for all at Arklow Rugby Club.
All who played for Arklow this season were top class and committed from start to finish.
Next season, Arklow must put some of the experience gained this season to good use.
Players know what needs to be worked on to accomplish success on the rugby pitch. Roll on next season.
Arklow RFC: John Louth, Cathal Louth (C), Eoin O Scannail, Danny Clear, Jack Joyce, John Furlong, Eamonn Quirke, Ben Diaper, Dean McCormack, Micheal O Scannail, Joni Butterworth, Richard Murphy, Leigh Horan, Shane McAllister, Jamie Ellis, Tom Scarfe, Conor Rochford, Rob McCormac, Peter Lynch, Eoin Donegan. WICKLOW Community Games had a very busy weekend as a result of the weather playing havoc with fixtures over the past few weeks. Five events took place around the county. There was a great participation level despite many events clashing due to the condensed fixtures.
Chess was hosted by Aughrim/ Annacurra in Aughrim National School on Saturday afternoon with seven teams taking part.
Quarter-final: Ashford/Glenealy v Roundwood (2-3); Enniskerry v Rathdrum (2-3); Westside v Shillelagh (4.5-0), Bye BBK/R.
Semi-final: Roundwood v Rathdrum (2-3); Westside v BBK/R; (3.5-1.5) Play-off for third and fourth Roundwood v BBK/R.
Final: Rathdrum v Westside (4-1). Result - 1st: Rathdrum; 2nd: Westside; 3rd: Roundwood; 4th: BBK/R.
The Rathdrum chess team of Kai Arthur, Matthew Cherry, Daniel K, Dara Kelly, Seth Loftus, Rowan Parmenter, Naoise Wheeler will go forward to Leinster Zone to play Kildare or Dublin on April 15 in Kildare.
Table Quiz
In Aughrim, over 20 teams put their general knowledge to the test in eight rounds of 10 questions which had a total of 80 points on offer it was closely contested with only five points separating the first four teams.
1st: Lakeside Team 1 (77 points); 2nd: Lakeside Team 2 (76 points); 3rd: Aughrim/Annacurra (75 points); 4th: Roundwood (72 points); Lakeside Team 1: Freya Byrne, Jack Kinane, Jack McManus and Emma Stynes will represent Wicklow at the national finals in Limerick from May 25 to 27.
Gymnastics
The finals were held in Arklow Gym on Sunday morning.
The results were as follows: U-9 Boys - 1st: Lincolm Byrne, Arklow.
Under-9 Girls - 1st: Caithlin Holt, Arklow; 2nd: Lily Jo Rowlands, Arklow; 3rd: Sophie Hurley, Arklow; 4th: Emily Christopher, Arklow.
Under-11 Girls - 1st: Orlaith Holt, Arklow; 2nd: Grace O’Connor, Arklow; 3rd: Layla Cahill, Arklow; 4th: Fayne Kenny, Arklow.
Under-11 Boys - 1st: Darragh Furlong, Arklow; 2nd: Reuben Factor, Arklow.
Under-13 Girls - 1st: Emily Hayes, Arklow; 2nd: Zara Fennell, Arklow; 3rd: Clodagh Shelton, Arklow; 4th: Emily Quinn, Baltinglass.
Under-13 Boys-11 - 1st: Jack Burke, Arklow: Gold medal winner in each age group go forward to national finals in Limerick. Swimming
The finals were held in Arklow Swimming Pool on Sunday afternoon.
The results were as follows: Boys U-8 Freestyle: 1st: Alex Miley, Westside.
Boys U-10 Freestyle: 1st: James Mc Carney, Lakeside; 2nd; Des Brennan, BBKR; 3rd: Joey Dore, Lakeside; 4th: Cole Perri, BBKR.
Boys U-12 Freestyle: 1st: Charlie Corrigan, Enniskerry; 2nd: Ciarain Byrne, Roundwood; 3rd: Fionn O Chonchuir, Arklow; 4th: Hugo Barry –Keane, Enniskerry.
Boys U-14 Freestyle: 1st: Finn Harris, Ashford/Glenealy.
Boys U-16 Freestyle: 1st: Chris Fitzpatrick, BBKR.
Boys U-16 Butterfly: 1st: Keelin Hunter, Baltinglass.
Boys U-10 Backstroke: 1st: Adam Gross, Enniskerry.
Boys U-12 Backstroke: 1st: Alex Muntean, Arklow; 2nd: Tommie Dore, Lakeside; 3rd: Ronan Phelan, BBKR.
Boys U-14 Backstroke: 1st: Elliott O’Driscoll, Aughrim/Annacurra.
Boys U-12 Breaststroke: 1st: Noah Harris, Ashford/Glenealy; 2nd: Noah Gross, Enniskerry; 3rd: Dylan Ryan, BBK/R; 4th: Nathan Heatley, Enniskerry.
Boys U-14 Breaststroke: 1st: Jack McManus, Lakeside; 2nd: James Kelly, Roundwood.
Girls U-8 Freestyle: 1st: Christina Miller, Roundwood; 2nd: Naoise Murphy, Westside.
Girls U-10 Freestyle: 1st: Anya McKenna, Roundwood: 2nd: Isabelle Gray, Roundwood; 3rd: Naoise Ni Chonchuir, Arklow; 4th: Rachael Mendoza, Arklow.
Girls U-12 Freestyle: 1st: Summer Olusanya, Lakeside; 2nd: Cara McKenna, Roundwood: 3rd: Aisling Doyle, Roundwood; 4th: Ciara Redden, Enniskerry.
Girls U-14 Freestyle: 1st: Emma Seckington, Arklow; 2nd: Caoimhe Royder, Lakeside; 3rd: Tara O’Toole, Rathdrum.
Girls U-16 Freestyle: 1st: Kate Burton, Enniskerry; 2nd: Caoimhe Nuzum, Arklow; 3rd: Amelia Kelly, Roundwood.
Girls U-16 Butterfly: 1st: Laureen Auld, Lakeside; 2nd: Tori Ryan, BBK/R.
Girls U-14 Backstroke: 1st: Freya Jenkinson, Arklow; 2nd: Eva Doyle, Roundwood.
Girls U10 Backstroke: 1st: Holly Cassidy, Lakeside; 2nd: Arabell McCann, Roundwood; 3rd: Aisling Auld, Lakeside; 4th: Kaitlyn Molloy, Enniskerry.
Girls U-12 Backstroke: 1st: Freya Millar, Arklow; 2nd: Emma Hearn, Augh/Anna; 3rd: Grace Anne Hassett, Roundwood; 4th: Blaithin Donelon, Roundwood.
Girls U12 Breaststroke: 1st: Amy Noble, BBK/R; 2nd: Rebekah Mendoza, Arklow; 3rd: Abigail Gray, Roundwood; 4th: Niamh McCormick, Enniskerry.
Girls U14 Breaststroke: 1st: Danielle Lee, Arklow; 2nd: Roisin Duffy, Lakeside; 3rd: Orla Fee, Roundwood:
Boys U-13 Squad: 1st: Enniskerry; Girls U-16 Squad: 1st: Arklow; Girls U-13 Squad: 1st: Roundwood; 2nd: Enniskerry; 3rd: Arklow:
Gold medal winner in each group go forward to national finals in Limerick. Overall Team Points: Arklow 96, Roundwood 86. Cross Country
Cross Country Team events took place in Avondale on Monday night – the heavy rain did not deter these hardy participants. Result as follows:
U-12 Boys: 1st: Noah Harris, Ashford/Glenealy; 2nd: Owen Savage, Ashford/Glenealy; 3rd: Charlie Colleran, Roundwood; 4th: Eanna Waters, Westside; 5th: Sean McDonald, Enniskerry; 6th: Sean Behan, Lakeside.
U-12 Girls: 1st: Ciara Colohan, Rathdrum; 2nd: Abbey Doherty, Baltinglass; 3rd: Isabelle Doyle Aug/Anna; 4th: Sarah Doyle, Aug/ Anna; 5th: Molly Sheehy, Ashford/ Glenealy; 6th: Mary McElhinney, Ashford/Glen.
U-13 Boys: 1st: Finn Harris, Ashford/Glenealy; 2nd: James McDonald, Enniskerry; 3rd: James Kelly, Roundwood; 4th: Billy Meagher, Roundwood.
U-13 Girls: 1st: Charlotte Pelz, Roundwood; 2nd: Chantelle Healthy, Roundwood; 3rd: Moya Kelly, Roundwood; 4th: Tara O’Toole, Rathdrum; 5th: Aoife Campbell, Aug/Anna; 6th: Willow Jordan, Aug/Anna.
U-14 Boys: 1st: Matt Miley, Westside; 2nd: Joe McGuckian, Aug/Anna; 3rd: Robert Cherry, Rathdrum; 4th: Ed Byrne, Rathdrum.
U-14 Girls: 1st: Laci Jane Shannon, Aug/Anna; 2nd: Lily Sheehy, Ashford/Glenealy; 3rd: Shauna O’Shea, Aug/Anna; 4th: Alice Kirwan, Aug/Anna; 5th: Hannah Joynt, Rathdrum.
U-16 Boys: 1st: Paraic Doyle Aug/Anna; 2nd: Ben Burke, Lakeside; 3rd: Caolin Goetelen, Aug/ Ann.
U-16 Girls: 1st: Ellen Savage, Ashford/Glenealy; 2nd: Niamh Byrne, Aug/Anna.
As cross country is a team event, a panel of six will go forward to the national finals in Limerick.
Team points - 1st: Aughrim/Annacurra 73 points; 2nd: Ashford/ Glenealy 62 points; 3rd: Roundwood 57 points.
Duathlon: Boys- 1st: Jake White, Westside; Girls - 1st: Amelia Kelly, Roundwood. Debating Final
1st: Lakeside; 2nd: BBKR; Lakeside Team: Grace Swan, Gracie Shott, Holly Teague and Orlaith Ni Ghallchoehair represent Wicklow at the national finals in Limerick.
The U-6, U-8 and U-10 are confined to county only.
Henry Doyle, Aug/ Anna; Ross O’Reilly, Aug/Anna; Ollie Behan, Ash/Glen.
Ella Harris, Ash/Glen; Clodagh Phelan, Rathdrum; Roisin Donelon, Roundwood. Felix Pelz, Roundwod; Harry Wrynn, Enniskerry; Will Phelan, Rathdrum; Zach Kavanagh, Roundwood; Simon Lynch, Ash/Glen.
Emily Behan, Lakeside; Sarah O’Reilly, Baltinglass; Anna O’Connor, Rathdrum; Grace Sheehy, Aug/Anna; Marina Bolton, Westside. Fred Dick, Lakeside; Luke Wilson, Rathdrum; Joey Dore, Lakeside; Shane Harrigan, Westside; Toirse Scully, Westside. Saren Waters, Westside; Charlotte Doyle, Aug/ Anna; Emma Byrne, Rathdrum; Una McElhinney, Ash/Glen; Sarah Gillespie, Ash/Glen.