Category: Latest News

Ronan Curtis was restored to a starting position for League One promotion hopefuls Portsmouth who were held to a one all draw by Fratton Park visitors Bristol Rovers, managed by Graham Coughlan, on Tuesday evening.  Burnley loanee Jimmy Dunne retained his starting position for Sunderland, after his troubled evening facing Accrington Stanley loanee Paul Smyth last Friday night, when the ‘Makems’ defeated visitors Gillingham by four goals to two at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday evening. Aiden McGeady was also in the starting eleven and scored the fourth goal from the penalty spot.   McGeady has displayed good form throughout the season to date. Very noticeable during the match on Friday last was his speedy and accurate use of the ball, a far cry from earlier times when his tendency to hold on to the ball for lengthy periods brought much criticism and little reward. McGeady, on this revised style, may yet be on the radar of new Ireland manager Mick McCarthy.

Head Coach Colin Bell and his twenty player Ireland U17 Women’s squad took on Iceland in a pair of friendly internationals this week. The Irish party arrived in Reykjavik on Sunday afternoon and will met their hosts in their first contest at 6pm on Monday evening when they went down top a three nil defeat. The second match took place at noon on Wednesday with the hosts this time securing a five two victory. The Irish goals were scored by Eabha O’Mahoney and Blessing Kingsley.
Squad
Goalkeepers: Courtney Maguire(Shelbourne WFC), Maeve Williams(Wexford WFC)
Defenders: Kayla Brady(Galway WFC), Shauna Brennan(Galway WFC), Mia Dodd(Shelbourne WFC), Ellie Ferguson(Shelbourne WFC), Therese Kinnevey(Galway WFC), Eabha O’Mahoney(Cork City WFC)
Midfielders: Aoibheann Clancy(Limerick WFC), Rebecca Cooke(Shelbourne WFC), Della Doherty(Peamount United), Erin McLaughlin(Sea Rovers WFC), Orla Prendergast(Peamount United)
Forwards: Lauren Egbuloniu(Cork City WFC), Katelyn Keogh(Athlone Town WFC), Blessing Kingsley(Wexford WFC), Emily Kraft(FFC Frankfurt), Sophie Liston(Limerick WFC), Emily Whelan(Shelbourne WFC), Jessica Ziu(Shelbourne WFC) 

Ireland manager Mick McCarthy was expected to visit Ashton Gate on Sunday afternoon when our two most in-form players, Callum O’Dowda and Matt Doherty were in direct opposition when Bristol City and  Wolverhampton Wanderers met in the FA Cup at the fifth round stage. Both performed admirably with Doherty creating the winning goal for the visitors.
At the same time, Blackburn Rovers went down to a one nil defeat by visitors Middlesbrough at Ewood Park in the Championship. Darragh Lenihan remains on the injured list while Derrick Williams, who has been in and out of the starting eleven for the hosts, started today but was red carded on the stroke of half-time for a failed last man challenge. Goalkeeper Darren Randolph was, as expected, in action for the visitors.
In the Scottish Premier League, Motherwell, for whom Carl McHugh was a 69th minute substitute, defeated Heart of Midlothian by two goals to one with an added time goal following a calamitous error by goalkeeper Colin Doyle. Jake Mulraney and Conor Shaughnessy both started for Hearts while teenage striker Aiden Keena was a 78th minute substitute. Later in the afternoon, Kilmarnock included Gary Dicker and Alan Power in their starting eleven for the Rugby Park visit of Glasgow Celtic who had Jonny Hayes in their starting eleven while seventeen year old striker Armstrong Okoflex was an unused  substitute. The visitors scored the only goal in added time at the end of the match.

Shane McLaughlin started, with Dylan Connolly a sixty third minute substitute for League One basement side AFC Wimbledon who went down to a one nil defeat by Championship side Millwall in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon. The visiting ‘Lions’ included Aiden O’Brien, Shaun Williams and Derby county loanee Alex Pearce in their starting eleven. There was a 12.30pm start for Shane Duffy and Brighton & Hove Albion who secured a two one success over Richard Keogh and Derby County at the Amex Stadium.  Padraig Amond and Mark O’Brien were in action for League Two side Newport County who went down to a four one defeat by Manchester City at Rodney Parade in the late kick-off, with Amond scoring the Newport goal.

Misfiring Aston Villa had Conor Hourihane and Glenn Whelan in their starting eleven as they went down to a two nil home defeat by visitors West Bromwich Albion for whom Wes Hoolihan was an unused substitute in their Championship clash on Saturday afternoon. Ireland assistant manager Terry Connor was in attendance at Villa Park. Ireland manager Mick McCarthy returned to Portman Road this afternoon and saw his former club Ipswich Town include Alan Judge and Will Keane in their starting eleven for the visit of Stoke City and James McClean. The ‘Derryman’ put the visitors in front on forty two minutes but former England underage international Keane, whose paperwork surrounding his imminent switch to represent Ireland is in motion, levelled the scores in added time. Alan Browne and Sean Maguire started for Preston North End who were held to a scoreless draw by visitors Nottingham Forest and Daryl Murphy at Deepdale. Rotherham United included international long shots Richie Towell and Anthony Forde in their starting eleven for the visit of Sheffield Wednesday and Keiren Westwood in the early kick-off. Towell scored the second  for the hosts in a two all draw with the ‘Owls’ equaliser coming with the last kick of the match after ten minutes of added time.   Meanwhile the other ‘Steel City’ side Sheffield United included John Egan, Enda Stevens and loanee Scott Hogan in their starting eleven with David McGoldrick an unused substitute as they crushed visitors Reading by four goals to nil at Bramall Lane.  

There are possible future Irish internationals currently catching the eye with promotion chasing clubs in League One. Current leaders Luton Town striker James Collins was not on the scoresheet today as the ‘Hatters’ emerged from a tough assignment at Fleetwood Town with a two one success. Fourth place Portsmouth had Ronan Curtis on the substitute bench for their visit to Southend United which ended in a three all draw, with former Ireland striker Simon Cox scoring all three for the ‘Shrimpers’. Curtis was introduced to the contest on seventy one minutes. The last campaign’s U21 captain Josh Cullen is on loan from his parent club West Ham United at fifth place Charlton Athletic who were held to a scoreless draw by visitors Blackpool at the Valley.

The 2019 Airtricity League Premier Division commenced this Friday evening with defending champions Dundalk playing out a one all draw with visitors Sligo Rovers at Oriel Park in front of the live RTE 2 cameras. Bohemian scored  the only goal to defeat newly promoted Finn Harps in Dalymount Park while promoted First Division champions UCD went down to a three nil defeat by Derry City in the Brandywell. Two clubs expected to present a title challenge, St Patrick’s Athletic and Cork City faced each other in Richmond Park with the hosts scoring the only goal for victory. Last season’s fourth and third placed sides, Waterford  and Shamrock Rovers locked horns in the Regional Sports Centre with the visitors recovering from the concession of a first half goal to secure a two one victory.