Wicklow Rovers stun St. Anthony’s as league leaders miss chance to extend lead at the top of WDFL Premier
Whitegates side on fire in tasty tussle
Ronan O'Kelly of St. Anthony's takes on Mark Whelan of Wicklow Rovers.
Wicklow Rovers goalkeeper James Kavanagh takes the ball from the head of Shane Doyle of St. Anthony's.
Ossassma Kenouche's shot shakes the St. Anthony's net to score his side's second goal.
St. Anthony's Cian Davis is stopped by Rikki Quinn of Wicklow Rovers.
Daniel McCann of St. Anthony's turns the ball into his own net for Wicklow Rovers' third goal.
Wicklow Rovers 4
St. Anthony’s 1
ST. ANTHONY’S missed out on the chance to extend their lead at the top of the Wicklow League Premier Division after suffering a handsome 4-1 defeat to Wicklow Rovers on Friday night.
Already leading the table by three points from second-placed St. Peter’s with a game to spare, Anthony’s travelled to Whitegates to face the fourth-placed Wicklow Rovers.
And they left Wicklow Town empty handed after a devastating attacking performance from the home side saw them jump to third place in the division, just four points shy of second-placed St Peter’s.
It took a mere seven minutes for Rovers to open their account. Adam Cox curled a free-kick into the box, where it was punched out as far as Bryan Doyle on the edge of the box.
His strike was blocked into the path of Daniel Tarcevskis, who drilled home.
Davey O'Sullivan of Wicklow Rovers heads the ball past Daniel McCann of St. Anthony's.
St. Anthony’s responded impressively and had two good chances to equalise. First, Cian Davis headed wide from a Jamie Kelly cross when he should have hit the target. Two minutes later, Kelly took aim with a devastating volley which cracked against the underside of the crossbar and away.
Wicklow then could have doubled their lead but for Oussama Kenouche and Gareth Murphy both to miss the target as the two sides went into the half-time break with the home side leading by a single goal.
The second half was largely dominated by Rovers, who dictated the tempo and momentum of the game through the formidable midfield partnership of Bryan Doyle and Adam Cox and were clinical in front of goal while Anthony’s proved profligate with the chances they created.
On 56 minutes, they doubled their lead and in sensational fashion. The ball broke off of substitute David O’Sullivan into the path of the ever-dangerous Kenouche on the left-hand side.
The elusive winger skipped inside a number of tackles before taking aim from the right-side edge of the box. His finish was unstoppable, flashing past the helpless Danny Kavanagh in the Anthony’s goalmouth.
Three minutes later, Anthony’s snatched themselves a lifeline when Ronan O’Kelly’s shot squirmed past James Kavanagh to make it 2-1. O’Kelly had the chance to equalise five minutes later when he turned past two tackles only for James Kavanagh to fly out and make the save.
Wicklow were happy to soak up pressure and hit Anthony’s on the break. On 72 minutes, they all-but clinched the win when an Adam Cox free-kick was deftly headed in by Lorcan Sinnott.
St. Anthony’s continued to search for a way back into the game, but it was all for nothing as, deep into injury-time, Wicklow got the fourth goal to rubberstamp the three points. Bryan Doyle did well to hook a clearance up the field from a St. Anthony’s attack.
David O’Sullivan was all on his lonesome to bear down on the away team’s goal. All he had to do was roll the ball past Danny Kavanagh, and he did just that to complete the impressive 4-1 victory.
Wicklow Rovers: James Kavanagh; Jack Macklin, Ben Algera, Rikki Quinn, Mark Whelan; Bryan Doyle, Adam Cox; Daniel Tarcevskis, Gareth Murphy, Oussama Kenouche; Lorcan Sinnott. Subs: David O’Sullivan for G. Murphy (50), Ben Doyle for D. Tarcevskis (68).
St. Anthony’s: Danny Kavanagh; Michael Gray, Tony Harris, Charlie McGuire, Daniel McCann; Matty Kennedy; Lewis Stokes, Jamie Kelly, Ronan O’Kelly, Cian Davis; Shane Doyle. Subs: Darren Collopy for C. McGuire (85).
Referee: Ruben Collins
