Double delight for ’Dockrell
Ivers hits hat-trick as United overcome Gorey Rangers
COLIN IVERS bagged a hat-trick for Castledockrell United as they secured their second successive double by lifting the Stanno Wexford Youths Cup at Ferrycarrig Park on Saturday afternoon.
Having won the Youths Division 2 crown last term, they took playing at a higher level this year in their stride, impressively winning the Premier Division title, before going on to retain this trophy.
They didn’t have it all their own way on Saturday though as, after Ivers had given them a deserved half-time lead, Stephen Murphy struck back for Gorey shortly after the restart.
Castledockrell regained the advantage in the 56th minute and, after absorbing plenty of pressure from the determined underdogs, Ivers finally sealed the deal when he completed his treble in injury-time.
It was far from a one-man show, however, as this talented group shone all over the pitch, with fully-committed captain Mikey Quigley leading by example at the heart of the defence, while around him Shane Reddy, Ronan Byrne and Oisín Devereux also rarely put a foot wrong.
Cormac Casey, Brian Roban and Brian Ivers were all willing to do the donkey work, as well as show silky skills, helping their side to seamlessly switch from defence to attack, while the tireless running of Charlie Smith and Tomás Tyrell allowed Colin Ivers to shine up front.
United began the game in the confident manner of a side that are used to winning, slickly passing the ball around well, and they came close to opening the scoring in the 13th minute when a deflected Brian Ivers shot forced a decent save out of Gorey goalkeeper Cian Wilson.
They went close again midway through the half, when an Oisín Devereux delivery was helped across goal by the busy Charlie Smith and a Colin Ivers header rattled the crossbar.
The holders continued to look the more likely and, in the 27th minute, Brian Ivers took a return pass from a short corner that he fed to Brian Roban, and Wilson was forced to tip over his speculative effort from a tight angle.
Rangers, who also have plenty of promising performers in their ranks, showed they posed a threat just past the half-hour mark when Tom Funge rose highest to meet a Conor Flynn corner, but his header went wide of the upright.
However, Castledockrell were quickly back on the front foot and Colin Ivers had another sight of goal, heading a dinked pass from Charlie Smith straight at the netminder.
Ivers made no mistake when a further chance presented itself in the 38th minute though.
Defender Ronan Byrne rampaged up the right wing and read the bounce of the ball well before sending in a cross. The ever-alert striker was initially denied by a great save from netminder Wilson, but he walloped home the rebound to break the deadlock.
Gorey Rangers introduced Matthew Ryan to the fray for the second-half, allowing Stephen Murphy to play a more advanced role, and the move quickly reaped dividends as they got back on level terms less than four minutes after the change of ends.
The ball found its way to Murphy on the edge of the area and he deftly flicked it up, before arrowing a superb shot to the right-hand corner of the net. Game on!
The response from Castledockrell was what you would expect of champions, and they regained the lead in the 56th minute when Colin Ivers broke clear and, with time to think about the finish, he kept his cool to expertly pick his spot.
With Gorey having to chase the game, gaps were always going to appear and the attacker was in again three minutes later when he was found by a sweet Brian Roban through ball, but this time Wilson thwarted his left-footed effort.
To their credit, Rangers weren’t prepared to throw in the towel, instead opting to launch the kitchen sink at their highly-fancied opponents and Tom Funge saw his shot, after a smart turn, comfortably gathered by Tiarnan Tyrell midway through the half.
The netminder survived a more searching test in the 74th minute, when the dangerous Stephen Murphy showed neat feet to wriggle free of defenders inside the area before unleashing a strong strike, but the goalkeeper got down well to make a fine save.
Murphy again did well to make space for a shot three minutes later, but he dragged his effort from the edge of the area the wrong side of the left post as they continued to press.
However, Castledockrell supporters could breathe a huge collective sigh of relief in the second minute of injury-time, when Brian Roban whipped in a corner-kick from the right and hat-trick hero Colin Ivers steered a header to the net.
CASTLEDOCKRELL UNITED: Tiarnan Tyrell; Ronan Byrne, Mikey Quigley (capt.), Shane Reddy, Oisín Devereux; Cormac Casey, Brian Roban, Brian Ivers; Charlie Smith, Colin Ivers, Tomás Tyrrell. Subs. – Seán Dunbar for Tomás Tyrrell (68), Ryan Kavanagh for Byrne (83), Aengus Tierney for Smith (89), also Cathal O’Neill-Power, Cian Jordan, James Foley, Jay Kavanagh, Jim Quigley.
GOREY RANGERS ‘A’: Cian Wilson;
Ben Mordaunt, Tiernan Meyler, Stephen Murphy, Noah Byrne; Luke Christie,
Kian Keogh, Conor Flynn, Adam Byrne (capt.), Piaras O’Neill; Tom Funge. Subs. – Matthew Ryan for Flynn (HT), Coby Byrne for Christie (66), Vincent Higgins for Byrne (66), Alex Devereux for O’Neill (85), also Alfie Naughton, George Kavanagh, Pádraig Roche, Adam Bell, Cormac Kinsella.
REFEREE: Darren Keating.