WICKLOW ROVERS AFC CLUB NOTES WEEK ENDING 19th JUNE 2022
Fresh from their Charlie Bishop cup success the premier team took on Glencormac United at Whitegates on Tuesday night in the semi-final of the Jim McLaughlin cup. It was a tight game in the first half hour with nothing between the two sides. Rovers injury jinx struck again after thirty minutes when one of the Bishop cup goal heroes Jack Fox had to leave the pitch through injury. Things didn’t get any better for Rovers when Fundi Mlilo left the field for treatment after a clash of heads three minutes before the break which left the Rovers player taken to hospital. While Rovers were down to ten men Glencormac took the lead. Luck certainly wasn't on their side as they lost Dean Noble through injury and then Andy Earls saw red for a last man challenge in the second half. The lads were dead on their feet after they put everything into the St Peters game. Glencormac went on to add another couple of goals to run out 3-0 winners. The lads shouldn't be too disappointed, they've had a fantastic season winning the Charlie Bishop cup, fourth place in the league and Wicklow cup and Jim McLaughlin cup semi-finalists, a highly successful campaign. Well done Boodhan, Eoghan and the team.
With the junior action coming up to its mid-summer break we had a limited number of games. On Tuesday night our under 13A's travelled to Ballyman to take on Enniskerry seeking all three points to keep them in the title hunt. They made no mistakes as they recorded a solid 5-0 victory to keep themselves on the shirt tails of league leaders St Anthonys. Highlight of the night were three players finding the back of the net for the first time this season. Centre half Sean O'Brien not only scored his first but nabbed his second as well with a brace of headers. His centre half partner Sam Goodbody also got in on the act with a single for his first of the season. The third player to fire home his first of the campaign was Alex Zevatskiy with a neat finish. Cathal Byrne completed the five goal haul when he netted for the sixth time this season. This was a good all round team performance with every player playing their part. The 13B team lost 9-2 to a very strong Newtown Juniors side on Thursday night. Rovers started the game off well and had a few early chances. After twenty minutes Rovers gave away two quick goals to go in at the break 2-0 down. They got off to a disastrous start in the second half giving away three sloppy goals in the first five minutes. But credit to the team they kept playing their football and pushing forward in search of a goal and were rewarded with an excellent goal with Martha Lambert finishing off a well worked move. Cian Lynch then got Rovers second from an indirect free kick after some quick thinking from Max Tkac-Sado. Rovers kept pushing but Newtown caught them on the break and finished the game off with some good goals. Only one game over the weekend and that was the 13B’s again with a tussle away to Avonmore which unfortunately the team lost 7-1. They gave it a hundred percent, but they found Avonmore a very strong team. Sean O’Keefe scored their consolation goal to bring his tally to three for the season.
Our Saturday morning junior academy is getting bigger and bigger with large numbers turning up. We could do with some help with the coaching of our future stars. Anyone over the age of 18 interested in getting into coaching should come along, it would be a great starting point if you were thinking of going into coaching. Also, if there's any senior players interested in helping out your help would be very much appreciated. The academy runs from 11 to 12 every Saturday so if you are interested, please contact any committee member or pm us on our Facebook page, thank you
Next weekend sees the WDSL Jako cup finals take place, all finals will take place in Celtic Park home of Arklow Celtic. We have three teams in finals and they all play on Sunday. The under 12A’s take on Coolboy Rangers in the premier cup final and this game has a kick off time of 12pm and will take place on the top pitch. Our under 14's and 16's both kick off at 4pm, the 14's take on Ashford Rovers on the bottom pitch in their premier cup final with the 16's playing in the premier cup final against Arklow Town on the top pitch. We would like to wish all three teams and coaches the very best of luck in their cup final ventures. Good luck lads.
Our annual summer camp is open for bookings. Week 1 will run from Monday 25th July to Friday 29th July; Week 2 runs from Monday 15th August to Friday 19th August. The camp will run from 10am to 2pm daily and the cost is €75 per child with discount for 2 or more children from the same family. Every participant will receive a jersey. All children should bring a packed lunch, drink, rain jacket, football boots and shin guards. To book your place use the following link: https://wicklowroversafc.com/products or alternatively you can contact any committee member.
The club in conjunction with our Saturday morning junior academy are running a Super Heroes Football section for kids with special needs. It kicks off on Saturday 25th of June on the all weather pitch at Whitegates and will be overseen by coaches James Quinn and James Macklin. The Super Heroes section will run from 11.15 to 12.15 on Saturdays. If you are interested, you should register your child by email to wicklowroverssuperheroes@gmail.com or you can contact James Quinn at 086-3989769.
