One slip was all he needed

GLENVIEW KILCOOLE UNITED 1 0

A crowd of over 500 people flocked to the Carlisle Grounds in Bray to watch the battle between Glenview and Kilcoole United in the Hills of Arklow Wicklow Cup final in 1993.

Wicklow and Bray People reporter Mark Brophy and photographer Dave O’Connor were on hand to capture the scenes as the Bray side clinched a memorable victory thanks to a Joe Ronan goal after 21 minutes.

As so often happens in big finals across all sports, the pressure of the occasion can sometimes interfere with the quality of the game and this was no different although the standard did rise considerably after the restart we are told.

It was the second successive Wicklow Cup to return to the town of Bray with Glenview following on from Little Bray’s win in 1992 when they toppled Aughrim Rangers thanks to a star-studded display from Kieran ‘Tarzan’ O’Brien who banged in four goals on the day.

‘This was Glenview’s second time to lift the trophy, their only previous triumph coming in 1975, when they beat St. Earnan’s by the odd goal in five. Last year local rivals Little Bray United picked up the trophy so these are good times for the Dargle clubs,’ wrote Mark Brophy in his match report in the Wicklow and Bray People newspapers on Friday, May 28.

‘The final never really fulfilled expectations even if the quality of the football did improve somewhat after the resumption. Both of these teams played a lot better in their semi-finals.

‘Before the start of the match, the teams were introduced to the special guests, Mr. Max Hill of the sponsors, Hills of Arklow, and the Chairman of Wicklow County Council, Mr. John Byrne. The players were introduced to the guests by Mr. Harry Griffith of the Wicklow League.

‘Glenview began brightly, Stephen Harris heading just wide early on, but there were few opportunities in a tight opening 20.

‘Then came the all-important goal, Ronan stabbing the ball home from close range after an almighty scramble in the Kilcoole goalmouth. Although it was very much a scrambled affair, one had to admire the persistence of the Glenview number nine who was chasing his fifth Wicklow Cup medal, having already won with St. Earnan’s, Rathnew and Wicklow Rovers.

‘Kilcoole fought back strongly and were unlucky not to be on level terms just three minutes later, Anto Harvey seeing his header cleared off the line by his opposite number Stephen Harris.

‘The Goosebankers were convinced they had equalised in the 42nd minute when John Young brushed aside the challenges of two defenders before lobbing goalkeeper Karl Clarke from 15 yards. However, Derek Campbell was deemed to be in an offside position and the goal was disallowed.

‘Whether Campbell was interfering with play was open to debate, but referee Frank Mullan had no doubts that he was.

‘There was a lot more action in the second half when both sides played some good football. Ronan should have scored his second goal six minutes after the restart when he pounced on a poorly hit backpass from Pat ‘Boxer’ Doyle before shooting over from a slightly narrow angle.

‘We then had a stoppage of nearly five minutes as Kilcoole’s Martin Merriman needed stitches in a facial wound. Merriman then bravely blocked a goalbound shot from Declan Harris in the 69th minute.

‘Michael Fegan was a whisker away from making it 2-0 in the 73rd minute, his header striking the crossbar after Ronan had created the chance with a splendid cross.

‘Kilcoole’s best chance of an equaliser came in the last minute of normal time when Wayne Moran fired in a shot only for Glenview defender Michael Mohan to rescue his side with a brilliant goal-line clearance.

‘Not surprisingly, Bray Wanderers manager John Holmes named losing skipper John Young as the man of the match. Even in defeat, the Wicklow Oscar Traynor star looked a high-class performer. He picked up a gold watch for his performance. The award was presented by Jim Lawless of the Mayfair Hotel, Bray.

‘David Murphy, Stephen Harris and Ger Byrne were all outstanding in a solid Glenview defence. Michael Fegan and Joe Rogan also looked the part for the winners.

‘Apart from Young, Anto Harvey, Sean Greene and Alan Harris were always prominent for the losers who have sadly ended the year without a trophy despite playing some terrific football.

IT was Rathnew legend Joe Ronan who would break Kilcoole hearts in the Wicklow Cup final of 1993 when he got on the end of a corner in the first half to fire home past Michael Campbell for the only goal of the game.

Ronan had signed for Glenview that season due to him residing in Shankill and while offers of Leinster Senior League football with Valeview had surfaced it was an opportunity to play with Glenview that appealed to him most and when Sean Stephens and Terry Day arrived at his door with an invitation he took it with both hands.

‘I was living in Shankill in Dublin and I was building a house down in Ashford, I had bought a site down there. A guy from Valeview came to look for me to sign, and Sean Stephens and Terry Day arrived at my door to get me to sign for Glenview, because I wasn’t going to travel up and down from Shankill to Rathnew – I had won everything with Rathnew – so I said I’d just go to Glenview,’ said Joe Ronan.

‘I never thought I would but I signed for Glenview, and when I signed, Terry Day, they’d never won the Wicklow Cup up there, they lost out, we’d beaten them the year before that and I had got the winner, and I played with Wicklow Rovers the year before that and we beat Glenview so I think I owned them one.

‘I said to Terry Day when I signed, ‘I’ll try and win the Wicklow Cup for ye because you’ve been beaten in the last few years and I’ve been the blame for both of those,’ he joked.

Joe’s memories of the big game and, indeed, the entire campaign are very clear. The final for Joe was a tough afternoon given the quality of the marking job done by Kilcoole’s Pat ‘Boxer’ Doyle but all the Joe needed was one chance. And that’s exactly what he got.

‘Now, I have to be honest, ‘Boxer’ was marking me, a lad called ‘Boxer’ Doyle, and ‘Boxer’ really kept me quiet that day,’ recalls Joe. ‘But a ball came across from a corner and I scored and that was the only chance that ‘Boxer’ gave me. He left me for one minute and I scored. He didn’t mark me off a corner,’ he said.

Joe Ronan was a hugely successful soccer and Gaelic football player in Wicklow. He featured on Wicklow county teams alongside the likes of Kevin O’Brien and has an incredible nine Wicklow Cup medals to his name while also suffering two final defeats.

‘I played my first senior game with St. Earnan’s when I was 17. We got to the Wicklow Cup final against Celtic (Rathnew) and we got bet 2-1.

‘To be honest, there were some great players around then. Wicklow Rovers had some great players, Rathnew had some great players, ‘Jacko’ (Alan Newsome) was outstanding. ‘Jacko’ would be a legend. ‘Sting’ would be in the middle and ‘Jacko’ would be striker.

‘I would nine Wicklow Cups overall and lost two (with St. Earnan’s, against Rathnew Celtic).’

Joe enjoyed his year with Glenview immensely and having scuppered their cup final hopes on two occasions he took great pleasure in being able to grab the winner.

‘Kilcoole got to the final, I think it was their first final in years. There was a massive crowd. Glenview had had two losses. We (Rathnew) beat them in 1990. Brian McEvoy had signed with them. Sean Temple, I was at his funeral this year. I went up to the funeral and met Sean Stephens and all the boys there.

‘But Sean Temple made two point-blank saves from me that day. A lad called Con Martin was the man giving out the award and he shouldn’t have given it to me that day. They were the best saves I ever seen from a goalkeeper I’ve ever experienced. I went over to Sean and told him that he should have got that award that day. That was the draw. We beat them in the replay. I got one and ‘Jacko’ got the other. It was 2-1. Dave Egan scored for them. Then I signed for them and we had a couple of tricky games away but I think I scored in every round of the Wicklow Cup that year. I had a really good run with Glenview.

‘That Glenview side were good that year. I don’t think the lads could believe that I would leave Rathnew and go and play with Glenview but I was living up there and I was going to go and play in the higher leagues with Valeview. All the lads (Glenview) were asking me to go down and play and I said I’d go and play for them for the year and the only game I was disappointed with myself in was the Wicklow Cup final but ‘Boxer’ did a great job, but he gave me one chance.

‘I enjoyed Glenview I have to say but obviously I’m a Rathnew lad. I promised Terry Day that I’d try and win the cup for them and it worked out that I did. Terry was following them (Glenview) for years.

‘We celebrated the following Monday in a place called Doyle’s on the Main Street in Bray and it was great. I have to say they were great lads,’ he said.

Joe must reflect on his football career with huge pride. He says that he does but his first thoughts are to mention players with whom he played with and against, including his best friend who he says was the best footballer he ever seen in Wicklow League.

‘Ah, I do, yeah (look back with a sense of pride). When you play in 11 cup finals and I won a heap of leagues and cups with Rathnew as well. I would like a special mention for ‘Jacko’ and ‘Sting’. ‘Sting’ Kavanagh is my number one, the best player I ever seen. Then you had ‘Jacko’ and Anthony Franey, special players. Anthony Mernagh, brilliant player. There’s another good chap there as well, Chris ‘Nipper’ Sillery – wouldn’t do a whole lot of work but always good a goal or two. There are a couple of great players going back; Paul McDonald was very good, Christopher Duffy, they were top lads,’ he added.