Category: Latest News

Tuesday
Aston Villa kept alive their hopes of avoiding relegation from the Premier League with a one nil victory over Arsenal at Villa Park tonight. They climb out of the bottom three on goal difference from Watford who suffered a four nil home defeat by Manchester City earlier this evening. Conor Hourihane started for Villa and delivered the corner which led to their winning goal. The Cork man was substituted on 73 minutes after a tidy performance.

Monday
Brighton & Hove Albion ensured their Premier League survival with a scoreless draw against Amex Stadium visitors Newcastle United on Monday evening. Shane Duffy was an 86th minute substitute for the hosts while Aaron Connolly was an unused substitute. The Sheffield United trio of John Egan, Enda Stevens and David McGoldrick all started their one nil home defeat by visitors Everton for whom  Seamus Coleman was an 88th minute substitute at Bramall Lane. Wolverhampton Wanderers and Matt Doherty secured a comfortable two nil victory over visitors Crystal Palace and James McCarthy.

Sunday
The South Coast meeting of AFC Bournemouth and Southampton at 2pm on Sunday afternoon saw Shane Long start for the ‘Saints’ and be replaced on 66 minutes while Michael Obafemi entered the fray in the fourth minute of added time and played a part in the second goal which ensured a two nil victory for the visitors. Will Smallbone and Will Ferry were unused substitutes for the visiting ‘Saints’.

Saturday
Relegated Norwich City were reduced to 9 players following two first half dismissals but still put in a brave performance in their two nil defeat by Carrow Road visitors Burnley. Young Adam Idah was a very late substitute the ‘Canaries’ while the visiting ‘Clarets’ included Kevin Long in their starting eleven with Robbie Brady a 60th minute substitute. 

 

Sunday
Leeds United, who have already won the Championship and been promoted to the Premier League, secured a three one victory at Derby County this Sunday afternoon. An injury saw young midfielder Jason Knight introduced from the ‘Rams’ substitute bench after 7 minutes. 

Saturday
The penultimate series of Championship matches kicked-off at 12.30pm on Saturday afternoon with Charlton Athletic and their loanees Josh Cullen and Aiden McGeady playing out a two all draw with visitors  Wigan Athletic at the Valley while Stoke City shocked promotion chasing Brentford with a one nil victory at the Bet365 Stadium.  James McClean was in competitive action for the victors while Nathan Collins joined the fray for the final few seconds. Daragh Lenihan and Blackburn Rovers welcomed Reading to Ewood Park where the hosts secured a four three victory. Fulham included Harry Arter and Cyrus Christie in their starting eleven for the five three victory over  Sheffield Wednesday at Craven Cottage which maintains their chance of automatic promotion in the final series  of vfixtures next Wednesday evening. James Collins and Luton Town secured a one nil victory at Hull City which keeps alive their hopes of surviving the drop. Preston North End named Alan Browne and Sean Maguire on their substitute bench for the two nil victory over visitors Birmingham City. Maguire joined the action for the final 15 minutes while loanee Scott Hogan started for the defeated visitors.  There was quite an Irish collection at Loftus Road when QPR and their trio of Ryan Manning, Conor Masterson and Olamide Shodipo started against visitors Millwall who included Alex Pearce in their starting eleven with loanee Jayson Molumby and Shaun Williams on their substitute bench. The hosts secured a four three victory with Masterson and Manning scoring the opening two goals while 57th minute substitute Molumby scored for the visitors in the 5th minute of added time. Callum O’Dowda was an unused substitute for Bristol City who saw their faint play-off hopes extinguished with a one nil defeat at Swansea City. 

The 2020 Airtricity League is set to resume on Friday the 31 July. Both the Premier and First Divisions will be restricted to two series of matches, being 18 in total for each club. Five series of fixtures were completed in the Premier Division and three in the First Division before the pandemic suspension.

There are two Premier Division matches scheduled for the commencing Friday with Derry City hosting Sligo Rovers in the Brandywell at 5.45pm while Dundalk take on St Patrick’s Athletic in front of the live RTE 2 cameras at 7.45pm in Oriel Park.

There are four First Division matches scheduled to kick-off at 7.45pm on the same evening :-
Athlone Town v Wexford
Bray Wanderers v Cobh Ramblers
Galway United v Cabinteely
UCD v Longford Town

The draw for the first round of the 2020 Extra.IE FAI Cup was made today. In light of the current pandemic situation this year’s competition is confined to the 19 League Clubs with no non-league involvement.  The three first round fixtures are:-

Cork City v Longford Town – Tuesday 11 August
Dundalk v Waterford – Tuesday 11 August
Finn Harps v St Patrick’s Athletic – Monday 10 August

The remaining 13 clubs receive a bye into round two which is scheduled for the week ending Sunday 30 August.

Jack Charlton – the legend who helped change the face of Irish international football passed away peacefully at his home in Ashington, Northumberland on Friday afternoon. He is survived by his wife Pat and three children, Deborah, John and Peter. Aged 85, the man affectionately known as ‘Big Jack’ had suffered a long term illness involving both lymphoma and dementia.

His 23 year club playing career was entirely with Leeds United where he made a total of 773 appearances. He was a member Of the England 1966 World Cup winning team and made a total of 35 international appearances scoring 6 goals.

He entered club management with Middlesbrough and had later spells with Sheffield Wednesday and Newcastle United.

He was something of a surprise choice as Ireland manager in 1986 but his impact leaves a legacy that will be extremely difficult to emulate. Qualification for the European Championship Finals of 1988 in Germany followed by qualification for the World Cups of 1990 in Italy and 1994 in the USA provided the Irish Nation with a sense of unequalled pride which will live long, indeed forever, in the memory of those of us who made the journey and travelled the road with the Legend.

‘Ar Dheis De go raibh a anam’

 

Thursday
This was another busy night in the Premier League with James McCarthy starting for Crystal Palace in their two nil defeat by Manchester United at Selhurst Park. Seamus Coleman for Everton and Conor Hourihane for Aston Villa both completed the full contest as their respective sides played out a one all draw at Goodison Park. The Sheffield United trio of John Egan, Enda Stevens and David McGoldrick all started their two nil defeat at Leicester City with McGoldrick withdrawn at half-time. The South coast meeting of Southampton and Brighton & Hove Albion ended in a one all draw. The hosts included Michael Obafemi and Will Smallbone in their starting eleven with Shane Long an unused substitute while Aaron Connolly and Shane Duffy were unused on the visitors substitute bench.

Wednesday
Turf Moor hosted the Premier League meeting of Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers this Wednesday afternoon which saw the hosts equalise from the penalty spot in the 6th minute of added time.  Kevin Long started for Burnley while Robbie Brady was an 85th minute substitute with Jimmy Dunne an unused substitute. Matt Doherty was introduced from the visitors substitute bench on 70 minutes and played a part in their goal before being unfortunate to concede the late penalty.

Tuesday
Adam Idah was a 79th minute substitute for already relegated Norwich City who went down to a one nil defeat by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this Tuesday evening.

Monday
The Southampton quartet of Shane Long, Michael Obafemi, Will Smallbone and Will Ferry were all named on the substitute bench for this evening’s meeting with Manchester United in Old Trafford. The visiting ‘Saints’ took an early lead but the hosts responded with two goals in quick succession midway through the first half. Thereafter the contest was quite competitive with little between the two sides. Shane Long was introduced on 65 minutes followed five minutes later by Will Smallbone and both made an impact. The third Irish substitute Michael Obafemi entered the fray on 87 minutes and his contribution was the equaliser, following a corner in the sixth minute of added time. 

Sunday
Molineaux hosted the meeting of Wolverhampton Wanderers and Everton at noon on Sunday where Matt Doherty started for the hosts while Seamus Coleman was named on the opposition bench but an injury brought Coleman into the fray on 31 minutes. The ‘Toffees’ were bitterly disappointing and Wolves secured a comfortable three nil victory. Relegation threatened Aston Villa played host to Crystal Palace at 2.15pm and secured a two nil victory to keep their survival hopes alive. Conor Hourihane started for the hosts and was involved in both of their goals. James McCarthy was a half-time substitute for the ‘Eagles’ but made little impact in a match dominated by the hosts. 

Saturday
Carrow Road hosted the Premier League meeting of Norwich City and West Ham United at 12.30pm on Saturday afternoon which saw the hosts relegated following a four nil defeat. Adam Idah was a 69th minute substitute for the ‘Canaries’ while Darren Randolph was unused on the substitute bench for the visiting ‘Hammers’. Kevin Long started with Robbie Brady and Jimmy Dunne unused on the substitute bench for Burnley who earned a one all Anfield draw with champions Liverpool. David McGoldrick passed a late fitness test and joined John Egan and Enda Stevens in the Sheffield United starting eleven for the visit of Chelsea. McGoldrick earned the ‘man of the match’ award with an excellent performance embellished by two goals, his first in Premier League football, as the ‘Blades’ secured a three nil success. In the late kick-off, Aaron Connolly started for Brighton & Hove Albion while Shane Duffy was an unused substitute as they were crushed by five goals to nil by AMEX Stadium visitors Manchester City. 

 

Friday
Promotion chasing West Bromwich Albion travelled to Huddersfield Town at 5.30pm on Friday afternoon with their destiny in their own hands but a shock two one defeat has handed the initiative to third place Brentford. Dara O’Shea started for the ‘Baggies’ and conceded the unnecessary free kick which led to the opening goal. O’Shea made amends with the equaliser approaching half-time although somewhat fortuitous as he did appear to be offside. Albion dominated the second half and substitute Callum Robinson really should have scored when clean through but bungled his shot. The ‘Baggies’ paid the price with the concession of the late winning goal. 

Wednesday
Promotion chasing Brentford maintained their Championship challenge with a hard fought one nil victory over Griffin Park visitors Preston North End this Wednesday afternoon. Alan Browne and Sean Maguire both started for the defeated visitors but made little impact. Relegation threatened Charlton Athletic secured a point in a one all draw at Birmingham City with loanees Josh Cullen and Aiden McGeady in their starting eleven while another loanee Scott Hogan started for the hosts. Callum O’Dowda was an 84th minute substitute for Bristol City who played out a one all draw with visitors Stoke City for whom James McClean started while Nathan Collins was introduced from the substitute bench for the final two minutes.

Tuesday
The Championship continued on Tuesday afternoon and evening with the 5pm Hawthorns meeting of West Bromwich Albion and Fulham topping the bill. The contest ended scoreless with U21 defender Dara O’Shea in fine form for the hosts while Sheffield United loanee Callum Robinson only saw the final 10 minutes of action. Cyrus Christie for the visitors saw even less time being introduced in the 90th minute. Cardiff City defeated visitors Derby County by two goals to one  with young Jason Knight in the starting eleven and scoring the goal for the visiting ‘Rams’. Luton Town and James Collins played host to QPR and their trio of Ryan Manning who started with Conor Masterson a very early 11th minute substitute with Olamide Shodipo an 82nd minute substitute as the sides played out a one all draw. Collins opened the scoring on twenty minutes from the penalty spot. The New Den hosted the meeting of Millwall for whom captain Alex Pearce started with Jayson Molumby an 87th minute substitute as they defeated visitors Blackburn Rovers and Daragh Lenihan by one goal to nil. 

Sunday
Struggling Midland clubs Stoke City and Birmingham City met in the BET365 Stadium at 1.30pm on Sunday afternoon where the hosts boosted their survival hopes with a two nil victory. James McClean started for the hosts with Nathan Collins and Stephen Ward unused on the substitute bench while loanee Scott Hogan started for the visitors but was withdrawn on 60 minutes.

Saturday
The Championship continued at 12.30pm on Saturday afternoon with Charlton Athletic going down to a one nil home defeat by Reading at the Valley. Loanees Josh Cullen and Aiden McGeady were both in the host’s starting eleven. At the same time Jason Knight and Derby County saw their play-off challenge falter and almost certainly end when they went down to a three one home defeat by third place Brentford. Knight was the goalscorer for the vanquished ‘Rams’. Dara O’Shea started and loanee Callum Robinson was an 80th minute substitute for West Bromwich Albion who played out a one all draw at Blackburn Rovers for whom Daragh Lenihan was in the starting eleven. Alex Pearce started for Millwall in their one nil victory at Hull City with Shaun Williams an 83rd minute substitute while Jayson Molumby remained on the bench. Callum O’Dowda was an 83rd minute  substitute for Bristol City who secured a three one success at Middlesbrough. Sean Maguire started for Preston North End who played out a one all draw with play-off hopefuls Nottingham Forest at Deepdale. Ryan Manning, Conor Masterson and Olamide Shodipo were in the QPR starting eleven for the three nil Loftus Road defeat by visitors Sheffield Wednesday.