Category: Latest News

Head Coach Colin O’Brien has named his Republic of Ireland Under 17 Squad for the upcoming European Championship Finals which are being hosted by Ireland and commence this coming Friday 3rd May 2019.
Ireland,as hosts, play in Group A and commence their involvement against Greece in Tallaght Stadium at 7pm on Friday evening. Earlier in the day, at noon, the other two Group A sides, Belgium and the Czech Republic will kick-off the Tournament in Tolka Park.

The remaining Group A fixtures are:
Monday 6 May 2019
Belgium v Greece 17.00 City Calling Stadium, Longford
Republic of Ireland v Czech Republic 19.00 RSC Waterford
Thursday 9 May 2019
Greece v Czech Republic 19.00 Carlisle Grounds, Bray
Belgium v Republic of Ireland 19.00 Tallaght Stadium 

Squad
Goalkeepers: Gavin Bazunu(Manchester City), Jimmy Corcoran(Preston North End), Harry Halwax(Derby County)
Defenders: James Furlong(Shamrock Rovers), Sean McEvoy(Ballinmallard United), Anselmo Garcia McNulty(Real Betis), Andrew Omobamidele(Norwich City), Timi Sobowale(Manchester City), Luke Turner(Aberdeen)
Midfielders: Festy Ebosele(Derby County), Joe Hodge(Manchester City), Brandon Holt(St Patrick’s Athletic), Roland Idowu(Southampton), Seamas Keogh(Southampton), Charlie McCann(Manchester United), Ronan McKinley(Derry City)
Forwards: Conor Carty(Wolverhampton Wanderers), Matt Everitt(Brighton & Hove Albion), Joshua Giurgi(Norwich City), Sean Kennedy(Sunderland)

All ten Airtricity League Premier Division clubs were in action on Monday evening. Struggling Cork City played host to bottom side Finn Harps in Turner’s Cross where they played out a one all draw. Fourth place Derry City went down to a two nil home defeat by third place Bohemian in the Brandywell. Current leaders Shamrock Rovers, who had suffered consecutive defeats to the second and third placed sides,  faced another tough examination when Dublin rivals St Patrick’s Athletic visited Tallaght Stadium and they passed the test with a one nil victory. UCD went down to a two nil defeat by Sligo Rovers in the Bowl while Waterford were defeated by three goals to nil by the re-ignited defending champions Dundalk in the RSC.

                            P   W  D  L   F   A   G/D  Pts
Shamrock Rovers            15  11  1  3  23   8   15    34
Dundalk                    14   9  3  2  24   8   16    30
Bohemian                   14   9  3  2  15   4   11    30
Derry City                 14   7  3  4  21  15    6    24
St Patrick’s Athletic      14   6  3  5  12  11    1    18
Waterford                  14   4  4  6  17  20   -3    16
Sligo Rovers               14   4  4  6  11  16   -5    16
Cork City                  14   3  4  7  11  18   -7    13
UCD                        14   3  1 10  13  26  -13    10
Finn Harps                 15   0  4 11  10  31  -21     4

Head Coach Paul Osam takes a twenty player Ireland  U16 squad to Israel this week where they will compete in a UEFA Quadrangular Development Tournament with Ukraine, Fiji and hosts Israel. The three matches will be played over five days along the Mediterranean coast in Shefayim.
Ireland came from behind to defeat hosts Israel by two goals to one in our opening contest this Monday morning. The goals were scored by Evan Ferguson and Robbie Mahon.
Ireland continued their good form with a three nil victory over Fiji in their second match on Wednesday afternoon. An own goal followed by an Andrew Moran strike gave Ireland a two nil interval lead with Kailin Barlow adding the third in the second half.

Fixtures
29 April: 2-1 Israel       11am (9am Irish time)
1 May:    3-0 Fiji          3pm (1pm Irish time)
3 May:    1-2  Ukraine    9.30am (7.30am Irish time)

Squad
Goalkeepers: Josh Keeley(St Patrick’s Athletic), Daniel Rose(Everton)
Defenders: Kailin Barlow(Sligo Rovers), Fionnan Coyle(Finn Harps), Oisin Hand(Shamrock Rovers), Gavin O’Brien(Bohemian), Kevin Platon(Shamrock Rovers), Daragh Reilly(St Patrick’s Athletic), Adam Wells(Shamrock Rovers)
Midfielders: Colin Conroy(Bohemian), Oran Crowe(Cork City), Jamie Doyle(St Patrick’s Athletic), Kyle Martin-Conway(St Patrick’s Athletic), Ben McCormack(St Patrick’s Athletic), Andrew Moran(Bray Wanderers), Glory Nzingo(St Patrick’s Athletic)
Forwards: Sinclair Armstrong(Shamrock Rovers), Evan Ferguson(Bohemian), Calum Kavanagh(Middlesbrough), Robbie Mahon(Bohemian) 

Title chasing Manchester City overtook Liverpool at the summit of the Premier League when they scored the only goal to defeat fellow Lancashire side Burnley at Turf Moor on Sunday afternoon. The host ‘Clarets’ included Jeff Hendrick in their starting eleven but he was substituted after seventy six minutes. Kevin Long and Stephen Ward were both unused on the substitute bench while Robbie Brady was not included in the matchday squad. 

Seamus Coleman started for Everton with James McCarthy unused on the bench for their scoreless draw with hosts Crystal Palace in the Premier League this Saturday afternoon. Relegated Fulham introduced Cyrus Christie from the bench after just twenty eight minutes as they scored the only goal to defeat Cardiff City at Craven Cottage where Greg Cunningham and goalkeeper Brian Murphy were unused on the ‘Bluebirds’ bench. Midweek seven second goal scorer Shane Long  recovered from his injury and started and scored for Southampton after twelve minutes of their three all draw with South Coast rivals AFC Bournemouth at St Mary’s Stadium.  Matt Doherty started for Wolverhampton Wanderers who gained a little degree of revenge for their FA Cup semi-final defeat when they defeated Watford by two goals to one at Vicarage Road. In the late kick-off, Chris Hughton‘s Brighton & Hove Albion, with Shane Duffy in central defence, faced a nerve wracking encounter with visitors Newcastle United which ended in a one all draw. The ‘Seagulls’ are four points clear of Cardiff City with just two matches remaining for both sides.  

Championship
Millwall and Stoke City were first into action in the Championship on Saturday afternoon when they played out a scoreless draw in the New Den. The hosts included Derby County loanee Alex Pearce and Shaun Williams in their starting eleven while James McClean started for the visitors. Derby County, captained by Richard Keogh, consolidated their play-off position, with a two nil defeat of their hosts Bristol City, who started the match just one point behind the ‘Rams’. Seventh place Middlesbrough, with Championship Goalkeeper of the Year Darren Randolph in their ranks, trail Derby County on goal difference only and they defeated their visitors Reading by two goals to one. The Irish quartet of John Egan, Enda Stevens, David McGoldrick and Aston Villa loanee Scott Hogan all started for second place Sheffield United who defeated already relegated Ipswich Town by two goals to nil at Bramall Lane.  Hogan opened the scoring for the ‘Blades’ on twenty four minutes. Alan Judge completed  the full ninety minutes for the vanquished ‘Tractor Boys’. Norwich City guaranteed their promotion to the Premier League with a two one victory over visitors Blackburn Rovers and their Irish duo of Daragh Lenihan and Derrick Williams while the Preston North End quartet of Alan Browne, Sean Maguire, Callum Robinson and defender Joe Rafferty all started their three all draw with visitors Sheffield Wednesday with Browne again on the scoresheet. Ryan Manning started for QPR with Olamide Shodipo a fifty ninth minute substitute as they went down to a one nil defeat by visitors Nottingham Forest for whom Daryl Murphy was an unused substitute.

League One
League One leaders Luton Town saw leading goalscorer James Collins, named in the League One Team of the Year, open the scoring at Burton Albion but their hosts recovered  to secure a two one success. Play-off candidates Charlton Athletic had West Ham United loanee Josh Cullen in their starting eleven at Gillingham and he scored in their two nil victory. Fourth place Sunderland played host to third place Portsmouth in a reprise of their EFL Trophy Final meeting of a few weeks ago, won by ‘Pompey’ in a penalty shoot-out following a two all draw. Aiden McGeady, also named in the League One Team of the Year, started for the ‘Makems’ but Burnley loanee Jimmy Dunne was again relegated to the substitute bench while Ronan Curtis started for the visitors as the sides shared two points in a one all draw. 

There was a full programme played in the Airtricity League Premier Division this Friday evening. Current leaders Shamrock Rovers went down to a two one defeat at Dundalk, the defending champions, in front of the live eirsport cameras. The ‘Lilywhites’ now move up to second place, four points behind the ‘Hoops’ but with a match in hand. Bohemian drop to third place on goal difference following their scoreless draw with visitors Waterford in Dalymount Park  while Derry City defeated struggling Cork City by two goals to nil in the Brandywell. St Patrick’s Athletic secured a two nil success over near neighbours UCD in Richmond Park while the North West derby meeting of Sligo Rovers and Finn Harps in the Showgrounds ended in a one all draw with the hosts needing a last minute penalty to secure a point.

In other news, it has been confirmed that St Patrick’s Athletic will replace Waterford as Ireland’s third representative in the Europa League. This situation arises because the current Waterford club do not meet the UEFA requirements of being formally in existence for three years.

                            P   W  D  L   F   A   G/D  Pts
Shamrock Rovers            14  10  1  3  22   8   14    31
Dundalk                    13   8  3  2  21   8   13    27
Bohemian                   13   8  3  2  13   4    9    27
Derry City                 13   7  3  3  21  13    8    24
St Patrick’s Athletic      13   6  3  4  12  10    2    18
Waterford                  13   4  4  5  17  17    –    16
Sligo Rovers               13   3  4  6   9  16   -7    13
Cork City                  13   3  3  7  10  17   -7    12
UCD                        13   3  1  9  13  24  -11    10
Finn Harps                 14   0  3 11   9  30  -21     3

There were just three series ten contests played in the Airtricity League First Division this Friday evening. Current leaders Cabinteely made the short journey to face Bray Wanderers in the Carlisle Grounds where they played out a one all draw. Shelbourne moved up to second place with a three nil defeat of  Galway United in Tolka Park. Wexford leapfrogged Galway United  at the bottom with a two nil success over Athlone Town in Ferrycarrig Park. 

On Saturday evening Cobh Ramblers welcome Drogheda United to St Colman’s Park where kick-off is set for 7pm while Longford Town and Limerick will lock horns in City Calling Stadium at 7.30pm.  

                            P  W  D  L   F   A    G/D  Pts
Cabinteely                 10  6  2  2  17  12     5    20
Shelbourne                 10  6  1  3  17   9     8    19
Longford Town               8  5  3  0  11   2     9    18
Bray Wanderers             10  5  1  4  11   8     3    16 
Limerick                    9  4  3  2   9   7     2    15
Drogheda United             9  4  2  3  14  14     –    14
Cobh Ramblers               9  3  1  5  11  12    -1    10
Athlone Town               10  3  0  7  11  21   -10     9
Wexford                    10  2  1  7  10  24   -14     7
Galway United               9  2  0  7  10  12    -2     6