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There was Irish involvement in all four FA Cup fourth round replays played this Tuesday evening. Chiedozie Ogbene was a seventy second minute substitute for Brentford who defeated their non-league visitors Barnet by three goals to one at Griffin Park. Padraig Amond and Mark O’Brien were in action for Newport County who defeated Championship visitors Middlesbrough by two goals to nil at Rodney Parade with Amond scoring the second goal. Former Ireland U21 midfielder Ryan Manning was a late substitute for QPR who defeated League One side Portsmouth by two goals to nil at Loftus Road. Matt Doherty, whose ninety third minute equaliser earned Wolverhampton Wanderers a two all draw against League One Shrewsbury Town at New Meadow, was again the hero in tonight’s replay at Molineaux. His goals in the second minute and again in first half added time helped his side to a three two victory over their very resilient opponents.

New Ireland Under 21 manager Stephen Kenny took charge of his first international training session at Dunboyne Castle this Monday morning. The forty seven year old Dubliner provided the twenty man, largely domestic player, squad with an outline of his thoughts and intentions in relation to the playing style to be adopted by the team as they prepare for the upcoming 2021 European Championship qualifying campaign.

In tandem with his coaching team comprising Keith Andrews, Jim Crawford and Dan Connor, he guided the squad through their initial paces and the groundwork will continue again tomorrow. This initial domestic gathering will be completed with a match against the Republic of Ireland Amateur International side managed by Gerry Davis at Home Farm FC, Whitehall on Wednesday evening at 7.45pm.

There were three changes to the original squad, with Aaron Drinan, Jack Keaney and Sam Todd replacing the injured pair JJ Lunney and John Mahon while Ronan Hale was withdrawn because of a competitive cup commitment with his Irish League club Crusaders.

Republic of Ireland U21 Training Squad
Goalkeepers: Conor Kearns(UCD), Ross Treacy(Dundalk)
Defenders: Trevor Clarke(Shamrock Rovers), Darragh Leahy(Bohemian), Andy Lyons(Bohemian), Conor McCarthy(Cork City), Liam Scales(UCD), Sam Todd(Finn Harps)
Midfielders: Aaron Bolger(Cardiff City), Brandon Kavanagh(Shamrock Rovers), Jack Keaney(Sligo Rovers), Jamie Lennon(St Patrick’s Athletic), Daniel Mandriou(Bohemian), Robbie McCourt(Bohemian)
Forwards: Aaron Drinan(Ipswich Town), Zachery Elbouzedi(Waterford), Neil Farrugia(UCD), Will Fitzgerald(Limerick), Michael O’Connor(Linfield), Karl O’Sullivan(Limerick)

Our U15 side completed their involvement in the Quadrangular International Tournament played in Spain this week with a three nil victory over Hungary on Sunday afternoon. Following a goal less first half Ireland took second half command with goals from Ben Curtis of Shamrock Rovers and Bohemian duo, Cian Kelly and Evan Ferguson.

Team: Aaron Maguire(Tottenham Hotspur); Tom Fogerty(Birmingham City), John Ryan[C](Shamrock Rovers), Ben Curtis(Shamrock Rovers), Darragh Reilly(Sligo Rovers; Luke McGlynn(Finn Harps), Conor Campbell(Finn Harps), John Joe Power(Burton Albion); Michael Leddy(Shamrock Rovers), Ben Quinn(Cherry Orchard), Sean Grehan
Substitutes: Cian Kelly(Bohemian)for Campbell 36′, Glory Nzingo(St Patrick’s Athletic)for Curtis 53′, Ciaran O’Sullivan(Mallow United) for Leddy 53′, Jamie Mullins(Bohemian)for Power 53′, Edwin Agabje(Shamrock Rovers)for Reilly 53′, Evan Ferguson(Bohemian)for Quinn 53′, Aaron O’Reilly(St Patrick’s Athletic)for Fogerty 61′, Craig King(St Patrick’s Athletic)for Ryan 61′

Ciaran Clark was an unused substitute for Newcastle United who lost to a late and only goal from Tottenham Hotspur in the early Premier League contest at Wembley Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Shane Duffy and Brighton & Hove Albion played out a scoreless draw with visitors Watford at the Amex Stadium while Cyrus Christie and his Fulham colleagues went down to a two nil defeat by Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. Robbie Brady resumed training this week and joined the fray for the final ten minutes as his Burnley, for whom Jeff Hendrick started, scored a late equaliser to draw one each with  visitors Southampton for whom Shane Long was introduced from the bench on twenty seven minutes. Stephen Ward was an unused substitute for the ‘Clarets’. Seamus Coleman started  for Everton but was withdrawn on seventy three minutes as they went down to a three one home defeat by visitors Wolverhampton Wanderers who had Matt Doherty in their starting eleven. James McCarthy was an unused substitute for the vanquished ‘Toffees’. 

The Championship marathon continued on Saturday afternoon with Brentford, for whom Chiedoze Ogbene was an unused substitute, recovering from a two goal deficit to crush Griffin Park visitors Blackburn Rovers by five goals to two. Darragh Lenihan started  for the visitors while Derrick Williams was an unused substitute. In-form Bristol City climbed to sixth place with a two nil victory over Ashton Gate visitors Swansea City with Callum O’Dowda scoring the second. James McClean and Stoke City made the journey to Hull City where they suffered a two nil defeat. Alan Judge started and Will Keane was a fifty fifth minute substitute for Ipswich Town who lost to the only goal from visitors Sheffield Wednesday for whom Keiren Westwood was again the last line of defence at Portman Road. Conor Hourihane and Glenn Whelan started for Aston Villa who were held to a scoreless draw at Reading. Aston Villa loanee Scott Hogan was an unused substitute for Sheffield United while John Egan, Enda Stevens and David McGoldrick all started their two nil victory over visitors Bolton Wanderers and teenage midfielder Luca Connell. McGoldrick was again on the scoresheet for the ‘Blades’. West Bromwich Albion went down to a three two home defeat by visitors Middlesbrough and Darren Randolph. Recent signing Anthony Pilkington and his Wigan Athletic colleagues secured a two one success over visitors QPR, for whom Ryan Manning was a very late substitute.

In the First Division, Ronan Curtis and his Portsmouth colleagues were held to a one all draw by Fratton Park visitors Doncaster Rovers while Burnley loanee Jimmy Dunne started for Sunderland  alongside Aiden McGeady, who scored the only goal for victory over their visitors, FA Cup giant killers AFC Wimbledon, for whom Dylan Connolly started while new signing Shane McLoughlin was an unused substitute. Current leaders Luton Town continued their good form with a three nil victory at Shrewsbury Town with former Ireland U21 striker James Collins scoring twice. Transfer window loan signing Aaron Connolly was unavailable through injury.

Our Ireland U15 side played their second match in the International Tournament taking place at the Pinatar Arena in Murcia, Spain against Holland this Friday afternoon. Jason Donohue’s charges again performed  with distinction and twice came from behind to earn a two all draw with the goals scored by captain Cian Kelly of Bohemian and Shamrock Rovers striker Michael Leddy. The team will complete their involvement against Hungary at 1pm (Irish time) on Sunday afternoon.

Team: Lee Morris (Dundalk); Craig King (St Patrick’s Athletic), Sean Grehan, Aaron O’Reilly(St Patrick’s Athletic), Cian Kelly(Bohemian);
Glory Nzingo (St Patrick’s Athletic), Jamis Mullins (Bohemian), Edwin Abaje (Shamrock Rovers); Ben Quinn (Cherry Orchard), Evan Ferguson (Bohemian), Ciaran O’Sullivan (Mallow United)
Substitutes: Ben Curtis (Shamrock Rovers) for King 44′, Michael Leddy (Shamrock Rovers) for Abaje 44′, John Ryan (Shamrock Rovers) for O’Sullivan 44′, Luke McGlynn (Finn Harps) for Nzingo 52′, Darragh Reilly (Sligo Rovers) for Mullins 52′

 

January 2019 Transfers

The current UK transfer window opened on Tuesday the 1st January 2019 and concluded at 11.00pm on Thursday the 31st January 2019. The Irish players detailed below have been involved in some form of transfer during the relevant period.

NAME	FROM	TO	DETAILS
Cian Bolger	Fleetwood Town	Lincoln City	Undisclosed
Andy Boyle	Preston North End	Ross County	End of Season Loan
Graham Burke	Preston North End	Gillingham	End of Season Loan
Canice Carroll	Brentford	Swindon Town	End of Season Loan
Billy Clarke	Charlton Athletic	Bradford City	Free
Aaron Connolly	Brighton & Hove A	Luton Town	End of Season Loan
Dylan Connolly	Dundalk	AFC Wimbledon	Undisclosed
Mark Connolly	Crawley Town	Dundee United	Undisclosed
Barry Corr	Cambridge United		Released
Michael Doyle	Coventry City	Notts County	Undisclosed
Jake Doyle-Hayes	Aston Villa	Cambridge United	End of Season Loan
Courtney Duffus	Oldham Athletic	Yeovil Town	Undisclosed
Jimmy Dunne	Burnley	Sunderland	End of Season Loan
Scott Hogan	Aston Villa	Sheffield United	End of Season Loan
William Hondermarck	Drogheda United	Norwich City	Undisclosed
Alan Judge	Brentford	Ipswich Town	Undisclosed
Will Keane	Hull City	Ipswich Town	End of Season Loan
Joe Mason	Wolverhampton W		Released
Shane McLoughlin	Ipswich Town	AFC Wimbledon	Free Transfer
David McMillan	St Johnstone	Hamilton Accedemicals	End of Season Loan
David Meyler	Reading	Coventry City	End of Season Loan
Paudie O’Connor	Leeds United	Bradford City	End of Season Loan
John O’Sullivan	Blackpool	Dundee	End of Season Loan
Alex Pearce	Derby County	Millwall	End of Season Loan
Anthony Pilkington	Cardiff City	Wigan Athletic	Free – 18 Mth C
Joe Rafferty	Rochdale	Preston North End	Undisclosed
Connor Ronan	Wolverhampton W	Dunajska Streda (Slovakia)	End of Season Loan
Conor Shaughnessy	Leeds United	Hearts	End of Season Loan
Ryan Sweeney	Stoke City	Mansfield Town	Free – 2.5 yr Ctct