KDFL Under 20 Division
Newbridge Rovers 1 2 Sallins Celtic FC
Rovers travelled away to face Sallins in a game that was originally meant to be played at home in Chapel Lane but due to bad weather the pitch was unplayable and Rovers made the short trip to Millbank in Sallins.
On an incredibly windy afternoon Sallins started the better side in the opening ten minutes ,putting pressure on rovers and creating a few half chances in the process. Rovers finally got themselves together and started to make things happen with Callum Rogers and captain Jack McCormack on the ball . Rovers started getting the ball into their forward players and popping shots off from range but only sighters that the wind mostly took the sting out of. It was a difficult first half playing against the strong winds but new signing at the back JP Dignam was marshalling his back four and met every ball that came into the Rovers box . Sallins finally broke the deadlock on the half hour mark with a brilliant team goal down the left side of the pitch with Ruairi McAuliffe whipping a ball into the six yard box to find Louis Grainger who fired home to make 1-0 Sallins. Sallins saw out the first half in control of the match half time Sallins
The second half begun with Rovers now playing with the wind on their side and it showed. Starting the half off flying out the traps ,with Jay Fitzgerald giving the Sallins left Back a hard time with his skill ,energy and willingness to carry his team up the pitch . Micheal Holland came close early in the second half with his strike from range testing the Sallins keeper as the keeper got down smartly to stop it from going into the bottom right corner .
Rovers had a lot of corners throughout the second half which really put the pressure on the Sallins backline as the game had a few scrambles in the Sallins penalty area most notably when the ball found its way to Rovers Brian Caffrey from a corner six yards out and after two blocked attempts at goal the third was once again saved by the Sallins keeper from point blank range to keep the score at 1-0 Sallins .
On the 68th Minute Rovers finally made the breakthrough to level matters with some magical skill from skipper Jack McCormack who was being marked by three men in the corner with nowhere to go somehow looks up and squeezes a perfect ball to Jay Fitzgerald on the corner of the box who nutmegs his man and absolutely drills the ball from the right side across the keeper and into the bottom left corner of the goal to leave it 1-1
The visitors sat back after they scored and tired legs where kicking in now with no subs and some players carrying knocks . Sallins rallied back and kept their heads and eight minutes later with a great move down the right-hand side of the pitch with Ruairi McAuliffe beating his man and then laying it off once more to Louis Grainger who once again found the net. Newbridge continued to ask questions of the Sallins defence who stood firm to see out a 2-1 win. Best on the day for the winners were Louis Grainger, Ruairi McAuliffe and Newbridge Jack McCormack.