u15 SE Shield final

Arklow 24 Carlow 15 Leinster South East Shield final The long-awaited u15 South East Shield Final was played last Saturday at 12 o clock. Carlow was looking to retain the title that there u15s had one last year. Both sides started the game at 100 miles an hour with both teams equalling each other out in the opening phases of play, Arklow then started to gain a hold on the ball and after a period of possession Arklow hooker Jamie Tobin managed to break his way through the Carlow defense to score the opening try of the game to give Arklow an early advantage. Arklow kept the pressure on from the resulting kick-off and after some fine work from the forwards, they managed to make their way into the opposition 22 before a moment of confusing allowed Arklow prop Billy Molloy touch down a bouncing over the line to add to Arklow Advantage. Fly-half Conn Kinsella slotted a touchline conversion worthy of winning any match. These early scores kicked Carlow into action, as they gained control of the ball nearly directly from the kick they moved their way up the pitch before eventually touching down in the corner. Carlow kept up the pressure as the game edged towards half time, with nearly the final play of the half they managed to cross the Arklow whitewash again. This left Arklow 2 points up at the half time. j Carlow kept up the pressure on the Arklow line and after some heroic defending they eventually managed to cross the try line again giving them a 3 point lead. Arklow forwards managed to gain a foothold again playing against a strong breeze. With the Arklow forwards breaking tackle at will this led to more space on the pitch which Calvin Kyra Arklow winger touching the ball down in the corner to give Arklow the lead again. Arklow kept the pressure on the Carlow with some great work from there pack. After two great runs from Arklow players flanker Luke Doyle managed to get his hands on the ball leaving Carlow defenders he managed to score a try under the post which was duly converted by Kinsella. Giving Arklow a 9 point lead. For the last 10 minutes of the game, the teams even each other out with some great defending on both sides. Eventually, Carlow was penalized which gave Arklow the ball. All they had to do was get the ball out of play. Which gave Arklow a 9 point win in the final Leaving the final score 24-15.

U16 Jako Cup 31/5/19

Coolboy 7

Wicklow Rovers 0

Celtic Park Arklow

Eoin Horkan

Anyone that was in attendance in Celtic Park got to witness a clinical Coolboy side come out on top of Wicklow Rovers to reach the u16 Jako Cup final.

Coolboy started the game the way a team would like to start a semi-final. In almost the first play of the game they managed to play the ball over the Wicklow defense but the ball was well covered by the Wicklow keeper. Both sides then evened each other out in the next few phases of play.  After 7 minutes Coolboy managed to get themselves into an early lead through striker Finnian Collins who managed to latch onto a ball in the Wicklow box before slotting the ball into the far corner of the net. The game settled down again for the next couple of minutes with both defenses managing to halt each other. Coolboy winger Oisin Gorman then made a burst down the wing but his shot narrowly missed the far corner of the net.  With half an hour gone in the game, Coolboy won a corner which ended up at the feet of that man Collins again who turned on the edge of the box and drove a fine shot into the back of the net. With the game petering towards the half time whistle Coolboy managed to get one last chance but the long-range effort from Zack Furlong flew narrowly past the post. Leaving the score 2-0 at half time

The 2^nd half started off at a much slower pace with both sides making substitutes in the early parts. Defenses were coming out on top again for the opening 10 minutes before the game opened up again. Wicklow had a great chance through a corner but the header from sub-Ben Larson went narrowly over the bar. From the resulting kick out Coolboy striker Collins managed to get through the Wicklow defense before the Wicklow keeper managed to stop his attempt on goal. Wicklow started to play well after this chance, but the Coolboy defense managed to stop them any time they got near the goal. With 68 minutes gone and against the run of the play, Coolboy winger Oisin Gorman managed to put the game to bed as a contest with a great strike into the back of the net.  With the game heading into the final 5 minutes, nobody would have predicted what was about to happen next. Nearly every time Coolboy attack ended up in another goal. Gorman managed to get hold of a loose ball in the box before rolling the ball into an empty net.  Gorman then completed his hat trick after yet again been in the right place at the right time to slot the ball into the empty net.  Striker Collins then managed to try and get his hat trick but try as he might it didn’t happen his final chance hitting the post with the ball rolling around in the box eventually made its way into the net. Just before the final, the whistle went the aforementioned Gorman managed to get his 4^th goal of the game after beating a defender before firing the ball into the net to finish the game completely.

Coolboy; Rhys Nolan, Patrick Murphy, Shane Byrne, Rory Adare, Callum Hutton Aaron Corless, Cathal Rooney, Kai Davis, Finnian Collins, Zack Furlong, Oisin Gorman

Wicklow Rovers; Jack Jennings, Micheal Cassidy, Patrick Owens, Donal O Donoghue, Fionn O Brien, Kevin Leonard, Sean Murphy, Adam O Reily Callum Raul, Ewan Culbert Kyle O Neil

Subs on David Lally, Keelan Vickers, Ben Larson