Rathnew put on an exhibition against Rovers
RATHNEW AFC WICKLOW ROVERS
U15 COMMUNITY SHIELD
7 0
RATHNEW put on an incredible show for the spectators with their first outing of the WDSL season as they beat Wicklow Rovers 7-0 to be crowned this seasons Community Shield winners.
Rathnew got the game off to a great start when they opened the scoring on the ninth minute with a long range effort from William Moorehouse. Moorehouse won back the ball on the halfway line and made a great darting solo run towards goal before firing a powerful effort to the keeper’s right, giving his side the lead with less than ten minutes played.
Despite being a goal down early in the game, Rovers kept battling to try and secure and equalising goal. Jordan Younger went close on the 17th minute when he went one on one with Rathnew keeper Josh O’Connor, but his attempted chip over the keeper went just over the bar.
It wasn’t long before Rathnew had their second of the game, after some great play from Rathnew striker Scott Devlin. Devlin made a great run into the penalty area, twisting and turning around the Rovers defence before slotting into the corner of the net past Nolan.
Just on the stroke of halftime, Devlin grabbed a brace with an excellent curling strike. Devlin made a great run down the left wing before cutting inside on his preferred right foot and curled the ball into the top corner giving keeper Aaron Nolan no chance.
The goals didn’t stop com- ing in the second half for Rathnew, as substitute Jack Gregory nabbed himself a goal on the 47th minute with a tidy finish to make it 4-0. Rovers were really struggling to keep out their opponents as they reverted to putting all 11 players behind the ball to try keep Rathnew out and conceding more goals.
Rovers striker Jordan Younger was putting in a great shift for his side upfront. He went close on a number of occasions as well as never giving up on the ball but it just looked like it wasn’t to be for the Wicklow side as Rathnew were super clinical in front of goal.
Defender Ryan O’Neill found himself in the penalty area when Devitt’s shot rebounded off the crossbar and fell to O’Neill who made no mistake and slotted the ball past Rovers’ keeper Aaron Nolan.
Substitute Jack Gregory grabbed a brace five minutes before the final whistle with a well-taken half volley. Gregory was in the right place at the right time to receive the ball from a cross, Gregory took his chance first time and put his side 6-0 up with just five minutes before the end of the game.
Devitt finalised the result as he nabbed his hat-trick in the final minute with a shot from inside the penalty area. Devitt had been excellent throughout the game and deserved to wrap up his hat-trick before the end of the game and receive the match ball for his three goals.
An excellent and dominating performance from start to finish by the Rathnew side who will definitely be favourites for more silverware this season going by their performance on Saturday.
1. Josh O’Connor, 2. Ryan O’Neill, 3. Jack Moorehouse, 4. Ethan Power, 5. Ryan O’Toole, 6. Killian McAllister, 7. Adam Byrne, 8. William Moorehouse, 9. Ethan Snell, 10. Zach O Connor, 11. Scott Devlin. Subs: Jake Brady for Ethan Power (55min), Jack Gregory for William Moorehouse (48min).
RATHNEW: WICKLOW ROVERS:
1. Aaron Nolan, 2. Tomas Kennedy, 3. David Butler, 4. Ben Carter, 5. Adam Kearns, 6. Ryan McConal, 7. Brioc Doyle, 8. Sean O’Meard,
9. Will Woods, 10. Tiernan O’Brien, 11. Jordan Younger.