Roach Dynamos Under 7 Blacks made the short trip to Woodbank in excellent form on Saturday. With no more than 2 minutes on the clock, Roach burst forward, Josh Brooks and Curtis Newsham finding Kieran McIlvenny who outpaced the defender to smash the ball past the Woodbank keeper to give Roach the lead. Less than 2 minutes later and good work from Ethan Armstrong once again found McIlvenny in space and he doubled the lead for Roach. Woodbank couldn’t contain McIlvenny and it was no surprise when minutes later he completed his hat-trick, cutting in from the wing to fire an unstoppable shot into the top corner. 3-0 Roach and only 7 minutes played. Roach were not just scoring for fun, they were playing football with style. With Armstrong, Brooks and Newsham all in the thick of the action chances were aplenty, Ciaran Sherry was unlucky with a shot that the keeper tipped round the post. On the rare Woodbank attacks, keeper Max Murray was well protected by Logan Potts and Niall Morris. Roach further increased their lead, a long throw from Brooks caused mayhem in the box and a luckless defender got the last touch to make it 4-0 to Roach. Woodbank had highlighted Newsham as the main threat to Roach, which allowed Brooks and Armstrong more time and space on the ball. Armstrong linked well with Sherry and saw his shot just go wide of the goal. Brooks went on a dazzling run down the wing beating 3 players in the process before cutting and powering the ball past the helpless Woodbank keeper. With Roach camped in the Woodbank half, Morris and Potts pushed further forward and it was good work from Morris that saw Mason Todd-McGee claim his first of the season with a good low finish.
In the second half Roach eased up a little on their opponents and gifted them a consolation goal, poor defending left the Woodbank forward still with a little work to do, but his finish looked to give the scoreline some credibility. Roach however had other ideas, McIlvenny rampaging forward scored his 4th and Roach’s 7th with a ferocious drive. Good work from Todd-McGee found Armstrong in space and his goal-bound shot was luckily deflected away for a corner. Morris and Brooks linked up well with Newsham and he outpaced the Woodbank defence to finish in style and make it 8-1 to Roach. Further efforts rained in on the Woodbank goal, Brooks, Armstrong, and Sherry all had good chances to score but their efforts were cleared by the Woodbank defence. A superb team performance saw Kieran McIlvenny take the Man of the Match for his goalscoring antics, however every player deserved a special mention for a committed and determined performance.
