CLUB CALL
WICKLOW ROVERS
Well as cup scalps go they don’t come any bigger than the Leinster Junior Cup holders.
The senior men took on Collinstown FC in the quarter-finals of the Polikoff Cup at Whitegates and produced a stunning display to win 2-0.
After a tentative opening the lads took the lead on 36 minutes when Ciaran McGettigan raced through to fire past the advancing keeper to make it 1-0.
Shane Doyle produced a magnificent save to make sure the lads went in at the break one up.
The second half was nip and tuck with the lads more than a match for their higher ranked opponents.
With 22 minutes remaining we had a floodlight failure but even this obstacle was overcome as the lights were sorted and the game restarted.
The stoppage didn’t affect the momentum of the game as both teams continued where they left off taking each other on.
On 72 minutes, Rovers increased their lead when Tommy Kelly popped up with a back post header to put the lads in dreamland. The lads saw out the game with every single player playing their part in a famous result in the club’s history.
Full match report can be viewed on sports pages in this paper.
The lads also claimed three league points in a 3-1 win over Ratoath Harps on Tuesday night with goals from Maurice Dunne, Luke Byrne and Gareth Murphy.
The under-18s earned an excellent point away to Collinstown FC on Sunday, after falling one behind Stuart Cox levelled matters from the penalty spot just before half-time.
Collinstown went ahead early in the second half but with time running out Rovers were awarded a second penalty, which Stuart Cox coolly dispatched to the net to earn his team a share of the spoils.
The under-17Bs exited the Youths Cup when they went down 5-1 away to Ashford, it wasn’t a good day at all for the lads, Nathan Wynne scored a consolation goal for his team.
In midweek junior action the 12Bs drew 1-1 with Baltinglass Town in the first leg of their Carlow/ Wicklow Cup semi-final, Ciaran Matthews scored their goal on the night.
Saturday’s action saw the 12As continue their good form with an excellent 4-1 away over Jobstown Celtic in the second round of the Hillary Cup.
A brace from Liam Burke and singles from Jack Macklin and Lee Brown sealed a last eight spot in the cup after an impressive display.
The 12Bs lost 2-0 away to Avonmore A in the second leg of their cup quarter-final which meant they lost out 4-0 on aggregate.
Our 12Cs put in a sterling display in their cup quarter-final second leg.
After losing the first leg 8-2 to Greystones Utd A, the lads put in an excellent performance to hold Greystones to a 1-1 draw with Cian Doyle notching their goal in an outstanding battling performance.
The 13As are still unbeaten after their 8-1 victory over Portmarnock FC, after drawing 3-3 away to the same opponents in the first game of the season it was a bit surprising to win so easy this time.
Steven Gormley led the way with a fantastic four goal haul, Oscar Malcolmson fired in a brace with Sam Christie and Jake Nally registering singles in what was an all-round excellent team display.
Our 15As also remain unbeaten in the league when they notched up win number four from five league games after they defeated Palmerstown FC 3-0 with Ross Quinn scoring a clinical hat-trick to double his tally for the season.
Sunday’s junior action saw the under-11As go down 3-0 to Roundwood in their Under-12 Premier Cup quarter-final first leg.
The lads had no luck on the day but gave a 100 per cent and with lady luck they might have had a couple of goals.
The 13Bs made the short journey to local neighbours Rathnew and came home with all three points in a good 3-2 win, the lads raced into a 3-0 lead with goals from Charlie Phelan, Adam Byrne and Ruairi Jenkinson before the home side nabbed two late goals from frees.
In a good team display Ruairi Jenkinson and Peter Dunne came in for a special mention on the day.
Our under-14 girls produced an excellent performance to win 3-1 away to Maynooth Town.
Having lost to them twice at Whitegates, once on penalties and the other by the odd goal in a ninegoal thriller, the girls produced their best display of the season to claim all three points.
Justine Cronin bagged a brace with Anna Dignam netting a single in an excellent all-round team performance.
Our under-16s gained a moral boosting victory over Coolboy Rangers in the second leg of their cup quarter-final. Having lost the first leg 5-0 this win should give them confidence to kick on for the rest of the season. Paul Marah, Mathew Quinn and Chris Mabuza scored their goals.
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 BOWLS
Pride of place this week goes to both our ladies Division 1 team and ladies Saturday team both of whom started the season with home victories against Kenilworth.
The Division 1 team got five points and the Saturday team took all two points on offer. A great start ladies. To complete a memorable week for the fairer sex Liz McCarthy won the weekly lotto to make it four wins from five draws for the ladies.
Both our men’s Division 1 and 2 teams were in action against CYM and unfortunately both experienced defeat.
The Division 1 team did take 0.5 point which could be invaluable come September.
This week sees the ladies Division 1 team travel to CYM on Wednesday and on the same day our men’s Division 6 team make their seasonal debut away to Greenhills.
Thursday sees the 3 Vets teams in action with Vets 1 and 2 at home to Kenilworth and Skerries respectively at 11.00am.
Vets 3 make the trip to Terenure to face CYM. Saturday sees Men’s Division 1 at home to Railway Union at 10.30am followed at 2.30pm with Division 2 at home to Meath.
The ladies Saturday team are away to Leinster.
Finally, next Monday sees Division 4 away in Drumcondra to Ierne. Thanks to all those members who made the visit of Knock BC from Belfast such a success. The visitors were fulsome in their praise for the welcome and hospitality received.
BRAY WANDERERS
Lotto draw - There was no jackpot winner on April 22. Numbers drawn were 8, 18, 23, and 26. €30 lucky dip winners were Marie c/o V. Walsh, Mick McDwyer c/o D. Crinion, Mary McDonnell c/o Stephen McDonnell, Samantha Brophy c/o D. Crinion, M. McDonald c/o S. McDonnell. Next jackpot is €9100.
Lotto tickets are on sale in the club shop at all home games and you can also play the Bray Wanderers lotto online through our website.
Fixtures - Bray Wanderers are at home to Limerick on Friday, April 27. Kick-off at the Carlisle Grounds is 7.45pm. Bray Wanderers are away to Sligo Rovers on Monday, April 30. Kick-off at the Showgrounds is 7.45pm.
Match Tickets - To beat the queue’s on match night 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 2018 season are adults €15, students/OAPS €10, children u14 €5. Students should note that proof of student ID will be requested upon entry at the stiles.
Underage teams - The SJ.B Academy under-19s suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat away to Cork City last Saturday afternoon. The SJ.B under-19s’ next fixture is at home to Waterford FC on Sunday, April 29. Kick-off at the Carlisle Grounds is 2pm.
The under-17s defeated Lim- erick FC 3-1 at the Academy Grounds in Carrickmines last Saturday. Goalscorers were Promise Omochere, Daniel Madaghjian and Steven Sweeney. The under-17s are at home to Galway United on Saturday, April 28. Kick off is 2pm in the Academy grounds in Carrickmines.
The SJ.B under-15s defeated the Mayo League 1-0 last Sunday in Carrickmines. Goalscorer was Darragh Lynch from the penalty spot.
The under-15s are away to UCD on Sunday, April 29. Kick-off is 2.00pm at Marley Park.
Note that fixtures are subject to change.
The draws for the first round of the SSE Airtricity U15, U17 and U19 Cup competitions has been confirmed.
All fixtures across all competitions have to be played by Sunday, June 3 with kick-off times and dates set to be confirmed. The under-19s received a bye in their first round draw.
The under-17s received a home draw against Bohemians while the under-15s were drawn away to Dundalk.
Merchandise - 2018 season jerseys are now in stock. They are available in Adult sizes small, medium, large, Xlarge and XXlarge. Price is €45.00.
A new range of items are now available from the club shop and our on line shop.
Black training tops (€30), black rain jackets (€40) and crew tops (€40) are available in adult sizes, small, medium, large and xlarge. Merchandise can also be purchased from our on line store on the club website.
All the latest club news is on our website www.braywanderersfc.ie.
AVONMORE FC
Avonmore under-12A v Wicklow Rovers under-12 - Our under-12A team hosted Wicklow Rovers yesterday in a sunny Tullylusk for the second leg of the cup.
With a 2-0 advantage, we knew we still had some work to do as this team were a difficult one to beat. but unfortunately for Wicklow our lads were on top form today.
The passages of play and passing were a pleasure to watch, as was Mark O’Reilly’s first goal, which the Wicklow goalkeeper had no chance to save.
We continued to pile on the pressure and this was rewarded with a second goal from Mark which cheekily found its way into the net.
Gavin in goal had a quiet afternoon, our back line was solid, while our midfield and forward line put in a great shift. Well done lads, a well deserved win and best of luck in the next round.
Arklow Utd under-16 v Avonmore under-16 - Our under-16s are through to the semi-final of the cup.
We travelled away to play Arklow Utd today we had a 4-0 lead going into this game.
Arklow is always a tough place to go and play,we travelled with the bare 11 and were finding it tough to get a grip off the game.
Arklow took the lead after 14 minutes with a good finish. They then doubled their lead after 23 minutes to put more pressure on us.
We were looking for half time to come as we were finding it hard to play against the wind.
The first half ended at 2-0. In the 42th minute they scored their third goal and what a strike it was giving our keeper no chance.
This goal made us wake up and we started to play a lot better. In the 54th minute Alex Olohan picked up the ball and played Cormac McGraynor left down the wing he bet two defenders and crossed the ball where Alex meet it and finished nicely to the back of the net.
That put us back in control of the game. But in fairness Arklow keep coming at us but our back line stayed strong and defended well.
With a couple of minutes left they had a great strike superbly saved by our keeper Conor Nolan.
The game finished 3-1 to Arklow Utd today but overall 5-3 to us. Well done lads another decent performance. Any players looking to join this team contact any committee member for info.
NEWTOWN JUNIORS
Of our teams that were in action last weekend the under-9s travelled to take on Arklow Town and after a titanic battle against a very strong team both teams can take positives from the game.
Among the players who played well were Oisin Duffy, Albie Chance, JV Kelly, Nathan McMahon and John Turley.
The under-10s were at home to Coolboy Rangers and among the goalscorers were Ryan Collins, Aidan Heffernan, William Valentine, Nichita Neaga and Darren Fisher. Best on the day were Mikey Synnott and Aaron Roy.
Our under-12s made it three in a row after a 7-2 home win over Ashford Rovers in the second leg of their cup clash with Newtown leading 4-0 from the first leg.
Ashford started this game brightly and took an early lead and were unlucky not to score a second which would have made it interesting.
Newtown refocused and started to do all the simple things a tad better and goals from Padraig Gammell, Patrick Martin and Edward Valentine all with two each and these were Edward’s first ever goals so well done to him.
Keira Farrelly completed the scoring in a team performance that got better as the game wore on.
Our under-8s game was postponed due to bereavement in the Glencormac Utd club and we extend our condolences to the family and friends of Kieran Doyle. May he rest in peace.
We have one player from the club celebrating a birthday in the coming week and he is Jack Barlow from the under-9s. Happy birthday Jack from everyone in Newtown Juniors F.C.
All our teams are back in training now for the past couple of weeks.
There are also a couple of slots on all our teams at the moment so if there are any girl’s or boys who would like to join the club please contact our secretary, Hughie, at 087 6987653 and he will provide you with all the information you will need.
We have two players left standing going into Week 10 of our competition. Without stating the obvious every selection will be crucial from this week on.
Good luck to both Elaine and Luke as they strive to win the €500 prize pot. Thank you everyone for your continued support. You can follow the progress of the competition on our Facebook and Twitter pages.
For further information on all matters Newtown Juniors F.C. please contact the secretary at 087 6987653 or by email to hughienolan@gmail.com and you can also follow the club on our Facebook and Twitter pages.