Senior Soccer

BOKERBOYS BLITZ THEIR WAY TO FINAL

Wexford CBS faced reigning champions St. Brendan’s of Bray in the semi-final of the senior Wicklow/Wexford league and emerged victorious after an emphatic display. The Bokerboys were a class above their opponents who were weakened by the loss of 3 players, suspended after a feud erupted after their ¼ final victory. That however was not the fault of the Wexford boys and they produced a display of discipline, determination and pure class as they swept aside their opponents to book a final place.
CBS fired a warning shot early on; the lively Cian Doyle was taken down just outside of the box in a dangerous position. The imperative Darragh Rossiter stepped up and rattled an effort off the crossbar; a hesitant Brendan’s side cleared the danger. Wexford established supremacy early on and were controlling the game with Jessie Farrell dropping deep from up front to grab possession and drive the CBS forward at every opportunity. Brendan’s were hanging on from an early stage. Wexford CBS were dealt a blow early on as they lost influential midfielder Eoin MacDonald to injury inside the opening ten minutes. However the Wicklow side almost took an unlikely lead, a refereeing indecision almost proving invaluable to them, Ryan Byrne played a ball back towards Adam Dempsey in the goal for the CBS which was almost intercepted by the touch of a Brendan’s attacker. Dempsey claimed possession but somehow the referee missed the Brendan’s touch and awarded an indirect free for a “backpass”. St. Brendan’s almost capitalised taking a quick free and smacking an effort off the underside of the bar, a shot so powerful it almost moved the goalposts. The CBS were looking a little shaky for the next five minutes but soon again took control. Shane McGrath and Jessie Farrell combined well up front with some neat link up play, McGrath receiving the ball after Cian Doyle ghosted past two players on the wing, he knocked it back to Farrell, Jessie switched the ball towards Mikey Lawlor on the right wing who knocked in a cross/shot (cross according to anyone other than Mikey of course) which looped over the helpless keeper into the far top corner to give Wexford a deserved lead 1-0. Wexford pressed high up on their opponents and faced no real threat for the remainder of the first half. Jessie Farrell doubled the lead for the Bokerboys with ten minutes remaining in the first half Mikey Lawlor picked out his impeccably timed run with a precise cross-field pass, Jessie controlled beautifully before unleashing a ferocious volley to the top corner from just inside the box. 2-0 at half time with Wexford in total control.

The second half saw a resumption of Wexford dominance with Shane McGrath smashing a header off the inside of the post, poor Shane is getting in all of the right positions lately but just can’t seem to find any luck in front of goal. Brendan’s did lift their game a little attempting to get back into the game, winning a corner after some good shadowing from Lee Busher from their left winger and he blocked a cross out for a corner. Brendan’s most impressive player by far their young centre forward saw a well won header deflected by Captain fantastic Lar Stoutt off the post stopping a sure goal at a time which would’ve really boosted the Bray side. Soon it was 3-0 Jessie Farrell again involved linking up well with Alex Bergin and Lawlor before switching to the lightning quick Cian Doyle who ran from inside from the left wing and finished to make it 3. Farrell was the real star of the show for an outstanding performance from the CBS and almost made it 4 (the tonk) in spectacular fashion Alex Bergin found him with a neat pass, Jessie turned and fired an effort from 25 yards which beat the keeper but unfortunately not the crossbar as it rattled off its underside and the ball was scrambled away. Farrell soon got a deserved second goal collecting a through ball from Bergin ghosting past two defenders and making no mistake in a one-on-one position opting to neatly stroke an effort towards the near post, 4-0. Brendan’s in a rare breakaway played a ball over the top from their own half and substitute right winger beat keeper Adam Dempsey to the ball and chipped home to make it 4-1. They almost added another immediately after with the exact same move but Ryan Byrne recovered and managed to clear the effort off the line.  Dylan Dixon added a 5^th for the Bokerboys after 80 minutes tapping in the rebound of a parried effort from Emmet Ryan. Darragh Rossiter had a goal disallowed for an unlikely looking “offside” decision just 2 minutes later. The final whistle was blown and Wexford emerged victorious now looking forward to a final meeting with Pres Bray after an outstanding team performance. Best on the day for the CBS were Alex Bergin at the heart of everything in midfield, lion-heart captain Lar Stoutt at the back and Jessie Farrell who on the day was phenomenal.

Wexford CBS: Adam Dempsey (Wexford Albion),Lee Busher (Wexford Youths), Lar Stoutt (North End), Ryan Byrne (Wexford Bohs), Darragh Rossiter (Forth Celtic), Mikey Lawlor (North End),  Eoin MacDonald (Wexford Youths), John Hamilton (Forth Celtic), Cian Doyle (Wexford Celtic)  Jessie Farrell (North End), Shane McGrath (Wexford Bohs) Subs: Alex Bergin (Wexford Bohs) for McDonald,  Dylan Dixon (Blackwater) for McGrath,  Gary Cullen (North End) for Hamilton, Emmett Ryan (North End) for Farrell, Emmet Sinnott (North End) for Busher, Shaun Donoghue for Lawlor, Liam Rockett (Curracloe Utd.) for Doyle, Aaron Goodison(Wexford Bohs) for Byrne,