Well all roads led to Travers Insurance Park again this weekend, after last week’s disappointing result in the Wicklow cup semi-final the WDFL premier team were back at the same venue again today. This time it was the Charlie Bishop cup final and it was premier league champions St Peters who stood in their way. The lads went into the final minus top scorer Luca Rampersaud and midfield general Jack Crowley so it was going to be extra tough. It was Rovers who started the best dominating the early exchanges. For all Rovers neat attacking football they didn’t create a clear cut chance in the first twenty minutes. St Peters first chance on goal came after twenty one minutes and Ian Murphy in the Rovers goal was the hero making a fantastic double save to keep the game scoreless. Rovers were still dictating the play though the Bray side always looked dangerous on the break. In the twenty fourth minute Dean Noble came close to opening the scoring but his shot from distance drifted wide of the target. Just after the half hour mark the ball bounced around the Peters area like a pin ball machine crying out for someone to provide a clinical touch but eventually it was cleared for a corner which came to nothing. Three minutes later disaster struck for Rovers when team captain Brian Harrington was dismissed with a straight red for a high challenge which looked harsh when a yellow would have been justified. A minute later Rovers were awarded a penalty, up stepped Karl Earls but his effort was saved by the keeper. Was this going to be another day when the Gods were not going to shine down on the lads. The lads dusted themselves down and even with ten men they were still taking the game to the league champions and they eventually reaped the rewards for their first half dominance. Four minutes before the break Jack Fox pounced on a defensive mix up in the Peters rearguard to hit a sweetly struck effort which nestled in the back of the net to put ten men Rovers in front. Straight from the restart Peters went close to an equaliser but Ian Murphy pulled off a superb save to preserve the Rovers lead going in at the break. The second half started with Rovers on the front foot and three minutes in Alan Power warmed the hands of the keeper with a well struck shot. On fifty minutes Killian Devine fired over as Rovers pushed for the insurance goal. That insurance goal looked like coming in the sixty sixth minute, a fast flowing move saw Mikey Merrigan slip Jack Fox through on goal but his shot past the advancing keeper sailed over. Rovers continued to push forward with Dean Noble and Alan Power pulling the strings in the middle of the park. With ten minutes remaining Peters were awarded a free kick on the edge of the Rovers area, the resulting free was struck and ended up in the Rovers net. Credit were credit is due, this young Rovers team were playing great football and taking the game to their more experienced opponents, at times it was hard to believe they were playing with ten men since the thirty fifth minute such was their bravery in their forward play taking the game to Peters. In saying that the Bray always looked dangerous on the break. Manager Boodhan Rampersaud introduced Riain Sweetman Burke late on in the game and it proved to be an inspired change. With Rovers still on the front foot and time running out and extra time looking on the cards Sweetman Burke picked the ball up midway in the Peters half, ran at the heart of the Peters defence skipping past a couple of defenders before firing home into the bottom left hand corner of the net to spark wild celebrations on and off the pitch. There was no time for a comeback as the referee blew the final whistle on the restart. In truth Rovers richly deserved their victory, they played neat football and attacked their opponents from the first minute to the last. Even when reduced to ten men and the heartbreak of a saved penalty they kept going and showed great character to earn a victory their performance deserved. There were some excellent performers on the pitch today, Ian Murphy made excellent saves at crucial times in the game, Alan Power and Dean Noble were instrumental in the middle of the park while Mikey Merrigan tormented the Peters defence throughout. In truth every single Rovers player in the squad played their part in this deserved victory. When it comes to man of the match though l don't think anyone could dispute the Wicklow League's choice of man of the match. Dean Noble was a deserving recipent of the award, he covered every blade of grass on the pitch and was in inspired form in the engine room. When reduced to ten men he stood up to the task when most required, he was involved in everything, helping out his defence while involved in most of the attacking moves. Never shirked a challenge putting in a ten out of ten performance. Well done Dean on your man of the match award. Congratulations to Boodhan, Eoghan and the team on a deserving victory and bringing the cup back to Wicklow.