Wicklow Hockey Club

Corinthians 3-1 Wicklow

admin — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 19:59:42 +0000

Upbeat from their last win, and yet to play a home match, Wicklow went into this match with a strong line-up. But it was to prove to be one of those games where things just don’t go your way. Facing into the hazy winter sun in the first half, Wicklow struggled to achieve much fluency and created few chances. Corinthians gained the lead after about 15 minutes when a short corner that they were lucky to gain was struck beautifully just inside the left post of Wicklow’s goal.

Wicklow had the upper hand for the rest of the half, and started to look more threatening in attack, particularly through the lively and creative Victor de Vries. But Corinthians struck a hammer blow to their hopes of winning the match when a breakaway attack just before halftime caught the Wicklow defence cold and allowed one of their substitutes to get clean through on goal and finish well, despite the best efforts of goalkeeper Gerry McGuinley.

Yet Wicklow never believed they were out of the game, and fought back with renewed vigour in the second half. Good play from Richard Woodroofe and Eoin Byrne soon led to a short corner being awarded, which Stephen Stewart converted at the second attempt. At 2-1, Wicklow looked to have every chance of equalising and as the game went on Byrne, Woodroofe and then Andrew Clarke all came within inches of putting them level.

But minutes before the end, with Wicklow still believing they could gain a point, Corinthians gained another short corner out of nothing and expertly converted it again, with much the same move as they had scored with in the first half.

3-1 was a cruel scoreline on Wicklow, given that they could just as easily have won by the same margin, but they will refuse to be deflated by the defeat and next play UCD at home.

Avoca 3-4 Wicklow

admin — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:06:17 +0000

Wicklow travelled to Newpark school to play Avoca having suffered a weather-disrupted start to the season and losing 5-2 away to Portrane in their first league match of the season. Avoca, who tend to field one or two ex-internationals, are generally a formidable opponent at this level, but it was Wicklow who got off to the perfect start when good play down the right from Eoin Byrne led to returning centre-forward Stephen Stewart feeding a perfect pass to Richard Woodroofe which he calmly flicked past the Avoca goalie to put the away side 1-0 up.

Avoca soon struck back, however, as a well-worked short corner move culminated in a thunderbolt of a shot which stand-in ‘keeper Andrew Clarke had no chance of saving. Both sides strove to take the lead but the standard of defending was generally high, and the score remained 1-1 at halftime.

Wicklow tightened up their marking in the second half and used the ball much more intelligently in midfield, and both Eamon Madden and Stephen Adams had a hand in Wicklow taking the lead, after good link-up play between the midfiled and forwards presented a good chance for Eoin Byrne, who finished with his usual reliability. Wicklow had their tails up now, and it wasn’t long before Stephen Stewart crowned his comeback by slamming in a shot from a tight angle on the right hand side of the goal to make it 3-1.

Yet Avoca’s heads never went down and they narrowed the deficit after a missed tackle in defence left them with too good an opportunity to miss. Despite some brave defending it is clear that Wicklow miss their injured captain Forbes Vigors and the calmness and cohesion that he brings to the defence. Nevertheless, they restored their two goal advantage with another from the prolific Eoin Byrne, after something of a goalmouth scramble. Young player Victor de Vries, son of Wicklow stalwart Klaas, had a big hand in the lead-up to the goal and made a big contribution throughout the game.

A questionable refereeing decision after what appeared to be a clear case of crossing saw Avoca pull another one back to make it 4-3 in the dying minutes, but they were never going to have enough in their arsenal to equalise, and Wicklow held firm for an important and well-deserved win.

Wicklow U12 boys set standard at Avoca tournament

admin — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 18:35:53 +0000

Sunday 9 October we travelled to Newpark for U12 mini Tournament.

We had 8 players all eager to prove themselves on the pitch and have some fun as well.

The pitch was divided into 3 sections (A, B & C), we played in C. There were 4 teams in our section; Avoca (standing in for Navan who were unable to attend), Suttonians, Weston & Wicklow.

Our first game against Suttonians was 8-a-side and ended up a very defensive game resulting in scoreless draw 0-0. Well done to all especially to Mark Stuart and his 2 defenders David Hudson and Rory Martin.

We then played Weston again 8-a-side and also a defensive game with some runs at their goal. This ended up goalless aswell but we nearly got a couple of goals with attempts from Murray Kennedy and Alexander de Vries. Result 0-0.

Last game was against Avoca, this time we played 5-a-side. There were some spectacular runs by our midfielders and forwards. We began to work as a team and ended up scoring 2 goals from Mark Stuart and Sean Garland. There was some great assists and midfield work from Sean Garland, Emmet Wallace and Reuben Graham. Avoca managed to get 1 goal in but it was Wicklows game in the end 2-1.

Two scoreless draws and a win!

Well done to all and to the support from Parents and Coaches (Angela & Conor).

Summer Hockey Starts NOW!

admin — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:04:31 +0000

Every Wednesday, 6:30 pm
Dominican College – Wicklow
Age Group: 10 – 15

Every Tuesday, 7:30 pm
Loreto College – Bray
Age Group: 15+

Contact:
Peter Thompson – 087 4166242
Klaas De Vries – 087 231 1480
Richard Woodroofe – 086 197 3547

End of Season Party 8th July 2011, 8:00pm Leitrim Lounge

admin — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 12:12:50 +0000

Seniors Team will start off with some Bowling Action in KidZone Wicklow, to decide Player of the Season, Top Score, Defender, Midfield and Striker of the Season award.

Main party start at 8:00 pm, Leithtrim Lounge, Wicklow Town – All Welcome!

Drinks: €10.00 for any 3 pint
Food: Finger Food, Sandwiches
Music: DJ
Entry: FREE