WICKLOW ROVERS AFC CLUB NOTES WEEK ENDING 19th MAY 2024
Our senior B team welcomed St Patricks to Whitegates on Thursday night for the final league game of the season. In a match that was been played for 6 points Rovers came out on top with a 1-0 win, thanks to a superb Sam Brown strike. The win sees the lads move off the foot of the table and move up two places in the process. Alex Sinnott, Charlie Czwalina and Connor Lewins were excellent throughout in a good team performance. On Sunday the senior A team made the short trip to Ballinalea Park to take on Ashford Rovers in the semi final of the Jim McLaughlin cup. It proved to be a tight affair with defences on top throughout. It didn’t come as a surprise that the winning goal came from the penalty spot after fifty-five minutes. In truth the game was very scrappy and always looked like one goal would settle the tie. Wicklow did have their chances with Davy O’Sullivan and Lorcan Sinnott both denied in the first half by good saves from the Ashford keeper. In the dying seconds the lads rattled the woodwork directly from a corner and that was it. Next weekend sees the lads take on Avonmore in the Wicklow Cup semi-final. We would like to wish Ashford Rovers the very best of luck in the final. The senior ladies kept their dreams of a quadruple alive with a convincing 6-1 win over Curracloe United in the semi final of their divisional cup. Molly Sweeney stole the show with an incredible solo scoring haul of four superb goals to bring her total goals for the season to a fantastic thirty goals. Margaret Doyle and Aisling McDonald added singles to bring their season’s tally to three each. The girls now have another final to look forward to as well as the semi final of the Wexford cup. Well done ladies.
During the week in the junior section the under 13A's recorded a good 4-2 away win over Arklow United A on Tuesday night. Finn Murphy rounded the keeper to give Rovers the lead but two minutes later Arklow were level. Mikie O'Neill restored the Rovers lead before the break. Early in the second half Jack Collins headed home an AJ Long corner to make it 3-1. Arklow pulled one back before AJ Long sealed the deal with a looping effort after good work from Daniel Clarke to give Rovers a good 4-2 victory. On Wednesday night the 12C recorded an excellent 2-1 away win over Glencormac United in the quarter finals of the division 2 cup. Rovers controlled the game from the off and took a deserved lead after twenty minutes. Bella Connolly put in some great work before setting up Greg Rourke for a finish from close range to put Rovers in front. Charlie Gill and Billy Nolan then combined to put Aaron Foley through, and he made no mistake to make it 2-0. The home side pulled one back late on, but Rovers saw the game out safely to book their place in the semi-finals. An excellent all round team display, a big thanks to Glencormac for a good sporting game. On Thursday night the 12B's earned their first point of the season with a deserved 2-2 draw against a good Rathnew team at Shamrock Park. The team have been a little unlucky recently in games where they could have taken something from. JD Delahunt nabbed his fourth of the season with Charlie O'Neill netting his second of the campaign. It was a good team performance, big thanks to Rathnew for a highly exciting encounter.
On Saturday the 12A's who are in a bit of a rut now, no matter what they do, they just can't get the rub of the green. They were involved in a seven-goal thriller, but unfortunately, they came out the wrong side of a 4-3 scoreline. The lads gave it everything and had their chances. Will McConnell fired home a brace with Hugo Bradshaw nabbing the third in a good team performance. The 12C's came up against a strong St Anthonys team. Rovers fell behind after ten minutes and from this point onwards Rovers controlled the game. Unfortunately for Rovers they came up against an Anthonys keeper in inspired form. Billy Nolan on two occasions and Bella Connolly and Tomas Cunha were all denied by the St Anthonys keeper. Disaster struck for Rovers as they got hit twice on the break for the home team to run out 3-0 winners. The 14B's were edged out away to St Anthonys losing 3-2. It proved to be an exciting game of football with the home side just edging it on the final whistle. John Jackson and Josh Murphy were the marksmen on the day, and the team were a shade unlucky not to take something from the game. Congratulations to Mo, Swazy, Lenny and the under 14A team on their great achievement on winning the South Leinster Regional Final against Kilcullen. After falling behind the lads came roaring back with two goals in five minutes just before half time from Dan Connolly and David McCormack to send Rovers in 2-1 in front at the break. The lads looked like they had weathered the Kilcullen storm in the second half but with just seconds remaining Kilcullen scored an equaliser. It was on to extra time and early in the first period Kilcullen went 3-2 up but Rovers showed great character to battle back with a Sam Conyard screamer bringing the sides level again and then it was on to the dreaded penalty shootout. After 4 penalties each it was 4-3 to Rovers with Sam and Kale Conyard, Richard Carton, and Zach Kavanagh all successful with their spot kicks and Sam Czwalina pulling off an excellent save from Kilcullen's second penalty. Kilcullen slotted home their fifth penalty to make it 4-4 with one Rovers penalty remaining. Up stepped goalkeeper Sam Czwalina and he proved to be the coolest man on the pitch to fire home his penalty to give Rovers victory. Well done Sam. The full Rovers squad was as follows: Sam Czwalina, Ryan Cox, Ben O'Leary, Harry Bowen, Kale Conyard, Zach Kavanagh, Sam Conyard, Tommy Morrisey, David McCormack, Richard Carton, Daniel Connolly, Luke Connolly, Robbie McCoy, Tiernan Shortall and Jack Madden. Coached by Maurice Dunne, Kevin Czwalina and Lenny Carton.
On Sunday the 13B’s recorded a good 3-1 away win over Arklow Town A, the lads went 1-0 up after twenty-two minutes with a beautiful Eoghan Quinn strike. Arklow levelled soon after from the penalty spot. Two second half goals from Lukas Araminas to bring his tally for the season to five saw Rovers claim all three points. Michael Carroll at centre half was the Rovers man of the match with Kyrylo Kliuchnyk, Eoghan Quinn, Chris Delahunt, Lukas Araminas and Matthew Gough impressing too. The 15A’s took on Ashford Rovers at Whitegates and we all know the games between these two teams are always tight. This game was no different with a lone Nathan Gough goal giving the Rovers of Wicklow all three points in a 1-0 win.
The dates have been finalised for our annual club Summer Camps. Week 1 runs from Monday 1st July to Thursday 4th July with week 2 from 8th July to Thursday 11th July. The camp is open to boys and girls aged 5 years old to 13 years old. All participants will receive a jersey. The camp will run from 10am to 2pm daily and will take place at Whitegates. The cost of the camp is €75. There is a reduction for two or more kids from the same family. All participants should bring a packed lunch, drink, shin guards, football boots and rain jacket. Online registration is now open for the camps and you can register by clicking the following link: https://wicklowroversafc.com/products
Our senior B team welcomed St Patricks to Whitegates on Thursday night for the final league game of the season. In a match that was been played for 6 points Rovers came out on top with a 1-0 win, thanks to a superb Sam Brown strike. The win sees the lads move off the foot of the table and move up two places in the process. Alex Sinnott, Charlie Czwalina and Connor Lewins were excellent throughout in a good team performance. On Sunday the senior A team made the short trip to Ballinalea Park to take on Ashford Rovers in the semi final of the Jim McLaughlin cup. It proved to be a tight affair with defences on top throughout. It didn’t come as a surprise that the winning goal came from the penalty spot after fifty-five minutes. In truth the game was very scrappy and always looked like one goal would settle the tie. Wicklow did have their chances with Davy O’Sullivan and Lorcan Sinnott both denied in the first half by good saves from the Ashford keeper. In the dying seconds the lads rattled the woodwork directly from a corner and that was it. Next weekend sees the lads take on Avonmore in the Wicklow Cup semi-final. We would like to wish Ashford Rovers the very best of luck in the final. The senior ladies kept their dreams of a quadruple alive with a convincing 6-1 win over Curracloe United in the semi final of their divisional cup. Molly Sweeney stole the show with an incredible solo scoring haul of four superb goals to bring her total goals for the season to a fantastic thirty goals. Margaret Doyle and Aisling McDonald added singles to bring their season’s tally to three each. The girls now have another final to look forward to as well as the semi final of the Wexford cup. Well done ladies.
During the week in the junior section the under 13A's recorded a good 4-2 away win over Arklow United A on Tuesday night. Finn Murphy rounded the keeper to give Rovers the lead but two minutes later Arklow were level. Mikie O'Neill restored the Rovers lead before the break. Early in the second half Jack Collins headed home an AJ Long corner to make it 3-1. Arklow pulled one back before AJ Long sealed the deal with a looping effort after good work from Daniel Clarke to give Rovers a good 4-2 victory. On Wednesday night the 12C recorded an excellent 2-1 away win over Glencormac United in the quarter finals of the division 2 cup. Rovers controlled the game from the off and took a deserved lead after twenty minutes. Bella Connolly put in some great work before setting up Greg Rourke for a finish from close range to put Rovers in front. Charlie Gill and Billy Nolan then combined to put Aaron Foley through, and he made no mistake to make it 2-0. The home side pulled one back late on, but Rovers saw the game out safely to book their place in the semi-finals. An excellent all round team display, a big thanks to Glencormac for a good sporting game. On Thursday night the 12B's earned their first point of the season with a deserved 2-2 draw against a good Rathnew team at Shamrock Park. The team have been a little unlucky recently in games where they could have taken something from. JD Delahunt nabbed his fourth of the season with Charlie O'Neill netting his second of the campaign. It was a good team performance, big thanks to Rathnew for a highly exciting encounter.
On Saturday the 12A's who are in a bit of a rut now, no matter what they do, they just can't get the rub of the green. They were involved in a seven-goal thriller, but unfortunately, they came out the wrong side of a 4-3 scoreline. The lads gave it everything and had their chances. Will McConnell fired home a brace with Hugo Bradshaw nabbing the third in a good team performance. The 12C's came up against a strong St Anthonys team. Rovers fell behind after ten minutes and from this point onwards Rovers controlled the game. Unfortunately for Rovers they came up against an Anthonys keeper in inspired form. Billy Nolan on two occasions and Bella Connolly and Tomas Cunha were all denied by the St Anthonys keeper. Disaster struck for Rovers as they got hit twice on the break for the home team to run out 3-0 winners. The 14B's were edged out away to St Anthonys losing 3-2. It proved to be an exciting game of football with the home side just edging it on the final whistle. John Jackson and Josh Murphy were the marksmen on the day, and the team were a shade unlucky not to take something from the game. Congratulations to Mo, Swazy, Lenny and the under 14A team on their great achievement on winning the South Leinster Regional Final against Kilcullen. After falling behind the lads came roaring back with two goals in five minutes just before half time from Dan Connolly and David McCormack to send Rovers in 2-1 in front at the break. The lads looked like they had weathered the Kilcullen storm in the second half but with just seconds remaining Kilcullen scored an equaliser. It was on to extra time and early in the first period Kilcullen went 3-2 up but Rovers showed great character to battle back with a Sam Conyard screamer bringing the sides level again and then it was on to the dreaded penalty shootout. After 4 penalties each it was 4-3 to Rovers with Sam and Kale Conyard, Richard Carton, and Zach Kavanagh all successful with their spot kicks and Sam Czwalina pulling off an excellent save from Kilcullen's second penalty. Kilcullen slotted home their fifth penalty to make it 4-4 with one Rovers penalty remaining. Up stepped goalkeeper Sam Czwalina and he proved to be the coolest man on the pitch to fire home his penalty to give Rovers victory. Well done Sam. The full Rovers squad was as follows: Sam Czwalina, Ryan Cox, Ben O'Leary, Harry Bowen, Kale Conyard, Zach Kavanagh, Sam Conyard, Tommy Morrisey, David McCormack, Richard Carton, Daniel Connolly, Luke Connolly, Robbie McCoy, Tiernan Shortall and Jack Madden. Coached by Maurice Dunne, Kevin Czwalina and Lenny Carton.
On Sunday the 13B’s recorded a good 3-1 away win over Arklow Town A, the lads went 1-0 up after twenty-two minutes with a beautiful Eoghan Quinn strike. Arklow levelled soon after from the penalty spot. Two second half goals from Lukas Araminas to bring his tally for the season to five saw Rovers claim all three points. Michael Carroll at centre half was the Rovers man of the match with Kyrylo Kliuchnyk, Eoghan Quinn, Chris Delahunt, Lukas Araminas and Matthew Gough impressing too. The 15A’s took on Ashford Rovers at Whitegates and we all know the games between these two teams are always tight. This game was no different with a lone Nathan Gough goal giving the Rovers of Wicklow all three points in a 1-0 win.
The dates have been finalised for our annual club Summer Camps. Week 1 runs from Monday 1st July to Thursday 4th July with week 2 from 8th July to Thursday 11th July. The camp is open to boys and girls aged 5 years old to 13 years old. All participants will receive a jersey. The camp will run from 10am to 2pm daily and will take place at Whitegates. The cost of the camp is €75. There is a reduction for two or more kids from the same family. All participants should bring a packed lunch, drink, shin guards, football boots and rain jacket. Online registration is now open for the camps and you can register by clicking the following link: https://wicklowroversafc.com/products
