Wicklow Rovers vs St Anthonys U14 Division 1 Playoff

 

U 14 Division 1 League Play Off

 Wicklow Rovers A  0

St Anthony’s 2

Celtic Park

Eoin Horkan

 St Anthony’s came out on top by two goals  with a win that showed a strong team performance from back to front. With all players showing experience well beyond there youthful years to carve out a great result for the Kilcoole based club

 St Anthony’s controlled the ball the ball from the opening whistle, but this didn’t stop Wicklow from carving out the first two chances against the run of play. Rovers Steven Kavanagh latched onto a long ball, but his goal bound effort was well blocked by the defence. Moments later Wicklow managed to win a free kick outside the box, but Jack Neville effort was easily kept out by the opposition net minder.

The Kilcoole side still kept control of the ball , as they did their pressure eventually paid off .There winger cut through the defence and was taken down inside the box. Left back Jack Ryan made his way up to calmly slot the penalty home to give his side a well-deserved thirteenth minute lead.  St Anthony’s second goal came two minutes later as ex St Joseph’s youth Sean Lawless pounced on a long ball to expertly finish into the back of the net from the edge of the box.

The game fell into a lull for the next twenty minutes as Anthony’s controlled the ball . As they did this, they also started to bring on subs . One of these crossed in a ball onto the foot of his teammate Mick Carroll  whose controlled volley flew narrowly wide.

Rovers started to gain a minor foothold in the middle of the park as the game edged towards the break . In added time Wicklow had two goal bound efforts expertly blocked by the defence to keep there lead at the break.

The 2^nd half was a much tighter affair with gaol chances being few and far between as both defences were on top of their opponents. Wicklow first opportunity was a shot in anger from a distance from winger Artur Curran this effort was saved comfortably though .

Wicklow major opportunity to rattle the next came through Curran again but his well-timed volley that was destined for the net was expertly saved by Jordan Murdill in the Antony’s goal. Wicklow kept the pressure on after this chance believing they could make a breakthrough but after a mix up in the Kilcoole sides defence defender Jack Ryan cleared the ball off the line to keep his side two goals to the good.

The second half was a game of chances for both wingers as Carroll managed to get his head on a ball for Antony’s, but his effort narrowly missed the upright . The final chance of the game fell to Carroll again . This time he was thwarted by Jacobs in the Rovers goal.

The Kilcoole outfit held out for what was a well-deserved  win in this very important tie for both sides.

 Wicklow Rovers A: 1. Joseph Jacob 2. Alfie Doyle,3.Chris Smith,4.  Hasan McGoven, 5. Jack Neville,6. Joe Culleton, 7.Senan O’ Donovan, 8.Jack O Kary ,9. Jack Byrne, 10. Steven Kavanagh ,11. Arthur Curran

Subs Used: Kyle Spratt, Harry Battams, James Dunne, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Aaron Czwalina

 

St Anthony’s: 1.Jaden Murdill, 2.Jack Finnegan ,3.Jack Lavery,4.Dylan  Hyland ,5.Jack Ryan, 6.Simon O Brien,7. Ryan Doherty,8. Finian Hughes, 9.Sean Lawless,10. Ben Heasley, 11.Mick Carroll

 

Subs Used :Cian O’ Brien, Eamon Ginest, Matthew Dowd, Oriol Salamero, Ben Betson, Alex Stonesow, Callum Merriman

 

Referee J Byrne