ROVERS FIGHT BACK
Lorcan scores twice to earn a draw with Arklow Town
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WICKLOW Rovers staged a late comeback against Arklow Town in the second half after coming from behind to draw level in the Wicklow Premier Shield clash at Whitegates last weekend.
Arklow Town started with a bang after they took the lead in the third minute.
Jack Devitt made a darting run down the centre towards the penalty area before slotting the ball in the bottom corner past Eoghan Doyle in goal.
A great finish from the Arklow man to give his side the lead early in the first half.
Callum Dempsey almost doubled Towns’ lead in the 15th minute when he went one on one with Doyle in the Rovers goal, Dempsey struck the ball low and hard looking for the bottom corner of the net but Doyle got down and parried the ball out of danger.
Rovers started to up the tempo and went close on the 25th minute. Georgie O’Neill picked out Lorcan Sinnott at the back post whose first time strike was tipped over the bar by O’Reilly in goal.
Rovers keeper Eoghan Doyle was keeping his side in the game pulling off save after save throughout the first half but unfortunately for the home side he couldn’t keep out Adam Cronin Kenny’s strike on the stroke of half-time.
Cronin Kenny struck a powerful free-kick from just outside the penalty area to double the lead for the away side just before half-time.
Rovers regrouped at half-time and came back out in the second half with a change of attitude that was clear to see in the early stages.
Lorcan Sinnott and Daniel Kavanagh were combining well in attacking areas and causing a huge
problem for the Arklow defence.
Rovers’ finally got their reward for the constant pressure going forward when they grabbed a goal back in the 50th minute with striker Lorcan Sinnott finding the back of the net with a curling shot.
Sinnott’s effort nestled into the corner of the net giving his side a great chance of a comeback.
Denis O’Reilly in the Arklow Town goal was keeping his side in the lead, he produced save after save from Sinnott and Kavanagh to keep the score at 2-1.
With all the pressure from Rovers the away side defence cracked five minutes before full-time.
Daniel Kavanagh made a great run down the right wing beating
two Rovers defenders before squaring the ball across the penalty area to Sinnott who slotted the ball past O’Reilly.
Rovers were pushing for a winner and had the advantage of momentum in the second half.
They almost nabbed a winning goal in the last minute of the game as Sinnott’s corner found Rovers skipper Ben Doyle in the penalty area.
Doyle took the shot on first time, his volleyed effort crashed off the crossbar and back into play but O’Reilly smothered the ball. So unlucky for the Wicklow Rovers captain who looked like he had finished off a dramatic comeback for his side.
A thrilling and exciting game at Whitegates with a dramatic ending as two sides fought for all three points, but a draw with the points shared was the fairest result as Town dominated the first half and Rovers dominated the second.
1. Eoghan Doyle,
2. Ben Doyle, 3. Kyle Gormley, 4. Sean O Toole, 5. Dillion Vickers, 6. Charlie Kenny,
7. Georgie O’ Neill, 8. Evan Conyard, 9. Lorcan Sinnott, 10. Daniel Kavanagh, 11. Cian Byrne, 12. Dillon Ryan.
1. Denis O’ Reilly, 2. Darragh Kennedy, 3. Harry McDonald, 4. Luke Mc Grath, 5. Enda Cullen, 6. Dylan Lynch, 16. Darragh Tansey, 8. Adam Cronin Kenny, 9. Jack Devitt, 10. Callum Dempsey, 11. Jack McCarthy, 12. Odhran O’ Donnell, 13. Diarmuid O’ Reilly. REFEREE: C. O’ Reilly.