Late drama as O.G. heralds sweet victory
WICKLOW TOWN (AET) 2 WICKLOW ROVERS 1
THERE was late drama in the Choice Media Bowl final as Wicklow Town’s under-16s grabbed a late extra-time winner to stun neighbours and arch-rivals Wicklow Rovers and be crowned champions after an entertaining tussle.
The game started off with some great passages of play from Wicklow Town who were putting together great quick passes and were making their opponents chase shadows for the first ten minutes.
Town took their time to create chances and didn’t rush their attacks, and they were unlucky not to open the scoring on the 12th minute when Jamie Noble played in Dylan Kavanagh, but Rovers keeper Liam Connolly pulled off a great save as he got down just in time to tip the ball around the post with his finger-tips.
Although Wicklow Town were dominating possession and were creating a lot of chances Rovers were very strong at the back and their no-nonsense style of defence seemed to be working for them. Town kept knocking on the door but time and time again the Rovers defence stood firm as their back line snuffed out any dangerous chances created by their opponents. Defender Daniel Murphy put his body on the line on a number of occasions to keep out the Rovers shots and crosses.
As good as the Rovers defence was in the opening 20 minutes they could not keep out Dylan Kavanagh on the 21st minute as the striker opened the scoring. The goal came from a mistake at the back with the Rovers defence and the keeper, Kavanagh twisted and turned in the box before slotting the ball into an empty net.
Rovers spent the rest of the first half trying to keep out their local rivals. Rovers keeper Liam Connolly was in fine for in goal as he stopped everything that came his way for the remainder of the half, his side had him to thank that they were only 1-0 down at the end of the first half the keeper pulled off save after save to keep his side in the game.
Rovers regrouped at half time and came out in the second half with more energy, more confidence and took the game to Town as they were not yet ready to give up their hopes of lifting the cup.
Rovers came close on so many occasions to grabbing an equaliser but just couldn’t find the back of the net.
As time ticked on Rovers became desperate and began to push more men forward and because of this they left themselves exposed at the back and venerable to a counterattack by Wicklow Town.
With just five minutes to play in the second half Rovers finally got their breakthrough with a great passage of play and build up. The goal started from the Rovers backline as Aidan Kelly picked out Tom O’ Shea who made a great run in the box before squaring to Paul Marah who made no mistake and gave his side the much needed equalising goal.
As the sides couldn’t be separated at 1-1 after the 90 minutes it meant the game went to extra-time. The next 20 minutes were very tense as both sides continued to attack looking for another goal to secure the cup.
The game became very phys- ical as both sides jumped into challenges with no fear and referee Keith Neville had a tough time keeping both players calm for the remainder of extra time.
It was Wicklow Town who found the back of the net first late in the first half of extra time and it was a killer blow for Rovers as Callum Kelly’s shot deflected off a Rovers defender and flew into the back of the net.
Unfortunately, Rovers couldn’t find another equaliser in the second half of extra-time, but it wasn’t from a lack of trying as they continued fighting and fighting right until the final whistle.
Credit to Wicklow Rovers who looked down and out early in the first half as their opponents dominated possession and grabbed an early goal, but their second half performance came from digging deep and showing heart, but they just fell short right at the end.
This final demonstrated the age-old phrase of ‘a game of two halves’ as Wicklow Town dominated the first half and looked like they would go on to win the game comfortably in the second half, a late comeback from Rovers brought the game to extra time but its Wicklow Town who raise the Choice Media Bowl Under-16s Cup with an impressive performance throughout.