It was heartbreak for the senior team in the Wicklow Cup final at the Carlisle Grounds this afternoon when they went down narrowly losing 1-0 to holders St Peters. In a first half that was a tight affair, it was a penalty deep into injury time in the first half that decided the tie. The first half was starved of many real chances. James Kavanagh in the Rovers goal made a double save in the seventh minute with Lorcan Sinnott just off target with five minutes to go before the break. In the second half, it was Rovers on the front foot, and how they didn’t score was a mystery. Ten minutes in Davy O’Sullivan caused havoc with a cross, but the shot from Lorcan Sinnott clipped a defender and fell into the hands of the keeper. Three minutes later Davy’s surging run was ended with a foul with the resulting free coming to nothing. On the hour mark,  Oussama Kenouche made a run down the left, his cross picked out Davy O’Sullivan but Davy’s effort was turned out for a corner by the keeper. Rovers had a great opening in the 67th minute, more good work on the left from Kenouche saw him reach the endline, his cross fell to Lorcan Sinnott but his shot went the wrong side of the post. With five minutes left on the clock Oussama’s effort was saved by the feet of the keeper at the foot of the front post, the rebound fell to Gareth Murphy and his shot looked goal bound but the keeper some how got to it to turn it away. On the final whistle, Rovers had given everything, in a first half limited of chances with nothing between the sides apart from the penalty, it was Rovers who were on the front foot in the second half and created all the chances. Rovers were that much on the front foot, James Kavanagh in the Rovers goal was a spectator for the whole 45 minutes. Incidentally, the only saves he made in the game were the double save after seven minutes, but he had no chance with the well struck penalty. The Rovers defence of Mark O’Sullivan, Rikki Quinn, Ben Algera and Dylan Orr was tight throughout and gave very little to the St Peters front line. Rovers will feel they left it behind with those second half chances, but lady luck didn’t shine on them today. There were impressive performances all over the pitch, Rikki Quinn and Ben Algera were superb at the heart of the defence. In the engine room Peter Finnegan, Tommy Smullen and Bryan Doyle put in good shifts. In the second half Davy O’Sullivan, Lorcan Sinnott and Oussama Kenouche made some dangerous runs causing the St Peters rearguard problems. On another day, some of those chances would have nestled in the net, but it wasn’t to be. It was a tough game for the subs to make an impact, but Gareth Murphy was unlucky not to with that well struck shot. The lads will take a well earned break, and hopefully this defeat will make them stronger for next season. On the man of the match front, you could have gave it to either Rikki or Ben at the heart of the Rovers defence.  Bryan Doyle in the engine room would gave been a contender, but just edging it was Tommy Smullen in the middle of the pitch. He gave it everything,  played a captain's role and led by example. He was cool and calm taking balls down and spraying it around. Overall an excellent dusplay. Congratulations to St Peters on their success, and we look forward to renewing tussles next season.