Sean Brown brace help Wilderness Rovers to safety in Tipperary Premier League

Clonmel Credit Union Premier League

Wilderness Rovers 3 – 2 Bansha Celtic

Promoted to the Premier League at the beginning of the season, Wilderness Rovers all but ensured they will be staying at the top table of TSDL football when they carved out a hard-earned win against a struggling Bansha Celtic side in Clonmel on Sunday afternoon.

As they have done in a number of recent games, “The Wildies” flew out of the traps, attacking from the start, and it took them just six minutes to get their noses in front when Sean Brown set up Dan van der Wal for his first goal of the season.

In a first half where the home side had plenty of chances, their failure to convert left them vulnerable and they were made pay just on the half-hour mark when Bansha Celtic took advantage of confusion in the home defence and sneaked a goal to draw level.

However, the response from the Clonmel side was positive and four minutes later a long ball by Ciaran Stapleton found the head of Van der Wal, who turned provider for ace striker Brown to score from close range and put the Wilderness back in the driving seat.

But the scoring in the half wasn’t completed yet, and six minutes later it was all square again when Bansha were awarded a penalty and they made no mistake.

That was how the game went to the break, and with so much on the line for both sides, the early part of the second period was a cagey affair, with both teams relying more on long balls to the front, rather than playing through the middle.

Chances were created by both teams, but neither was able to capitalise. A turning point seemed to arrive just after the hour mark when the Wilderness were reduced to ten men, but incredibly they seemed to use this as the catalyst to raise their game even more, and ten minutes from time they were awarded a penalty. With so much riding on the shot, Sean Brown was coolness personified and made no mistake, sliding the ball to the corner of the net, and re-establishing a lead for his side for the third time in the game.

They showed massive resilience after this, as Bansha threw everything at them to try to salvage a precious point, but in the end “The Wildies” prevailed to the delight of their management and supporters.