An insatiable attack v. an impenetrable defence

SUNDAY will pit Glencormac United’s insatiable attack against Newtown United’s impenetrable defence.

The Glens have thumped home 16 goals in their four matches en route to the Wicklow Cup final - with strike pairing Sam Kerr and Nathan Watters notching five each - but the Magpies defence was breached just once. That was what would prove to be a consolation effort for Wicklow Town B in the quarter-final.

Newtown have relied heavily on Dillon Carthy’s goals in the competition.

He’s the source of almost 40% of their strikes and the self-dubbed penalty king will be hoping to add to that tally on Sunday.

Both sides enjoyed straightforward victories in the first round as Ashford Rovers B and Greystones United were evicted from the competition.

Glens’ reward for ousting Rovers’ second team was a showdown with Rovers ‘A’, the two-in-a-row champions.

United took a 2-0 lead in Enniskerry but would lose that lead and be reduced to 10 men before finding a winner in the dying minutes through Waters.

It was another smooth passage for the Magpies.

In the last eight, both sides flexed their attacking muscles as the Ryder’s Field men and Matt Kelly outfit racked up six and seven goals respectively (Sam Kerr and Carthy both earned match balls in those ties).

They avoided each other in the semi-final.

Newtown faced St. Peter’s and many, many questions were asked of the recently-crowned Charlie O’Leary Cup champions but Evan Moran’s first half strike saw them book a third consecutive appearance in a Wicklow Cup final.

Glencormac faced Carnew and survived a late scare to emerge 3-1 winners with Watters again managing to find the net meaning he has scored in every round of this season’s competition.

Round 1: Glencormac United 4 (Nathan Watters, Sam Kerr, James Delahunty, Cian McGoldrick), Ashford Rovers B 1; Greystones United 0, Newtown United 2 (Dessie Waters, Neilly Martin).

Round 2: Ashford Rovers A 2, Glencormac United 3 (Dean McCormack, Sam, Kerr, Nathan Watters); Newtown United 3 (Dillon Carthy 2, Oisin Greenan), Roundwood 0.

Quarter-final: Shamrock Celtic 0, Glencormac United 6 (Sam Kerr (3), Nathan Watters (2), Dean McCormack); Wicklow Town B 1, Newtown United 7 (Dillon Carthy 3, Sean Heffernan, Ryan Cahill, Evan Moran, Conor Odlum).

Semi-final: Glencormac United 3 (Nathan Watters, Sam O’Callaghan, Mick Rooney), Carnew AFC 1; St. Peter’s 0, Newtown United 1 (Evan Moran).

Glencormac United scorers: Nathan Watters 5, Sam Kerr 5, Dean McCormack 2, James Delahunty 1, Cian McGoldrick 1, Sam O’Callaghan 1, Mick Rooney 1.

Newtown United scorers: Dillon Carthy 5, Evan Moran 2, Dessie Waters 1, Neilly Martin 1, Oisin Greenan 1, Sean Heffernan 1, Ryan Cahill 1, Conor Odlum 1.