Category: Latest News

The 2019/20 Premier League season kicked-off this weekend with several Irish players involved with their respective clubs.
AFC Bournemouth welcomed newly promoted Sheffield United to the Vitality Stadium where the sides played out a one all draw. The visiting ‘Blades’ had John Egan, Enda Stevens, David McGoldrick and summer signing Callum Robinson all in their starting eleven. Turf Moor hosted the meeting of Burnley and Southampton which ended in a three nil success for the hosts. Jeff Hendrick and Kevin Long were unused substitutes for the victors while Michael Obafemi was a sixty sixth minute substitute for the vanquished visitors. James McCarthy, who joined Crystal Palace from Everton two days ago, was an unused substitute when the ‘Toffees’ and Seamus Coleman played out a scoreless draw at Selhurst Park on Saturday afternoon. Shane Duffy was in action for Brighton & Hove Albion who travelled to face Watford at Vicarage Road where they secured  a three nil victory. The late kick-off featured Tottenham Hotspur who came from behind to defeat newly promoted visitors Aston Villa by three goals to one. Midfielder Conor Hourihane started for the ‘Villians’. 

Championship
Week two in the Championship saw Birmingham City play out a one all draw with visitors Bristol City. Dan Crowley started but was replaced after 66 minutes, while Callum O’Dowda was not included in the visitors matchday squad. Relegated Cardiff City defeated newly promoted Luton Town and James Collins by two goals to one. West Ham United loanee Josh Cullen returned to promoted Charlton Athletic who defeated visitors Stoke City by three goals to one at the Valley. The visitors included new loan signing Scott Hogan in their starting eleven while Nathan Collins was an unused substitute. James McClean was not included in the matchday squad. Richard Keogh captained Derby County in their scoreless draw with visitors Swansea City at Pride Park. Fulham included loan signing Harry Arter in their starting eleven for their two nil victory over Blackburn Rovers, with Cyrus Christie on the substitute bench. Derrick Williams was in the starting eleven for the visitors. Darren Randolph and Middlesbrough went down to a one nil home defeat by Brentford. Sean Maguire started and scored after six minutes for Preston North End who defeated Wigan Athletic by three goals to nil at Deepdale. Alan Browne was a 68th minute substitute for the victors. QPR had  Ryan Manning in their starting eleven for the one all draw with visitors Huddersfield Town.  Ireland U21 defender Darragh O’Shea was an unused substitute for West Bromwich Albion who were held to a one all draw by visitors Millwall for whom Alex Pearce and Shaun Williams started while Aiden O’Brien was an unused substitute.

League One
Goalkeeper Kieran O’Hara, on loan from Manchester United, started for Burton Albion who secured a two one victory at Gillingham. Alan Judge was a 39th minute substitute for Ipswich Town who played out a one all draw with Sunderland who included Aiden McGeady in their starting eleven.  Goalkeeper Max O’Leary, on loan from Bristol City, was in the Shrewsbury Town side which went down to a one nil defeat at MK Dons while Portsmouth included Ronan Curtis and Marcus Harness in their starting eleven for the two nil victory over Fratton Park visitors Tranmere Rovers.

Fifteen of the scheduled first round contests in the 2019 FAI Cup, sponsored by Extra.ie, took place this weekend.

There were eight ties played on Friday evening:-
19.45 Bohemian 3-2 Shelbourne
19.45 Cabinteely 2-2 Cork City [aet] 5-4 Penalty Shoot-Out
19.00 Cobh Wanderers 0-1 Limerick
19.45 Derry City 1-0 Wexford
19.45 Drogheda United 2-1 Avondale United
19.45 Glebe North 0-8 Sligo Rovers
20.00 Shamrock Rovers 1-0 Finn Harps
19.45 St Patrick’s Athletic 2-1 Bray Wanderers

Saturday featured:-
19.00 Cobh Ramblers 0-1 Dundalk
18.00 Crumlin United 3-1 Malahide United
19.30 Longford Town (P) Athlone Town – Re-arranged Tue 13 August
15.00 St Michael’s 0-0 Glengad United [aet] 8-7 Penalty Shoot-Out

The remaining ties were completed on Sunday afternoon:-
14.00 Collinstown 1-2 Galway United
11.00 Lucan United 2-1 Killester Donnycarney
15.00 Maynooth University Town 0-2 Waterford
14.00 UCD 5-2 Letterkenny Rovers

 

So Hotel Group are the new sponsors of the Women’s National League and current champions Wexford WFC travelled to Lithuania where they  contested qualifying Group 10 in the UEFA Womens Champions League between the 7th and 13th August 2019.

Wexford commenced their challenge with a disappointing three one defeat by Vllaznia of Albania on Wednesday morning in Alytus. Wexford took an early lead through Edel Kennedy but conceded three times before the half-time break.

Their second contest took place on Saturday the 10th August against the mini-tournament hosts Gintra of Lithuania who commenced their challenge with a one nil victory over Birkirkara on Wednesday. The hosts took an early lead but goals for McKenna Davidson and Lauren Kelly secured victory for Wexford.

Wexford completed their Group involvement on Tuesday the 13th August with a crushing seven two victory over Birkirkara of Malta in Marijampole. Captain Kylie Murphy scored a hat-trick while McKenna Davidson, Edel Kennedy, Rianna Jarrett and Ciara Rossiter also found the net. Sadly it was not enough to qualify for the knock-out stage as Villaznia secured a one all draw in their final game against Gintra and progress.

Thursday evening featured the first legs in the third qualifying round of the Europa League, including:-
17.00 Pyunik (Armenia) 0-4 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Matt Doherty returned from injury and opened the scoring after 29 minutes of this comfortable victory for Wolves. Following his injury lay-off, Doherty was withdrawn after 63 minutes.

Other Results
18.30 Ludogorets (Bulgaria) 5-0 The New Saints
19.00 FC Midtjylland (Denmark) 2-4 Glasgow Rangers
19.00 HNK Rijeka (Croatia) 2-0 Aberdeen

Dundalk  went down to a one nil defeat in their Europa League third round first leg contest with Slovan Bratislava of Slovakia this Wednesday evening. The ‘Lilywhites’ held out until the 85th minute but the concession of that late goal creates huge pressure for the second leg in Tallaght Stadium at 7.45pm on Tuesday the 13th August.

Also in Wednesday evening action were Glasgow Celtic who travelled to Romania where they played out a one all draw with CFR Clug in their third round first leg Champions League contest.

Mick McCarthy was in attendance at Fratton Park on Tuesday evening when League One Portsmouth defeated Championship side Birmingham City by three goals to nil in the first round of the EFL Cup.

Ronan Curtis and new signing Marcus Harness both started for the hosts while Norwich City loanee Sean Raggett was introduced from  the substitute bench for the final eight minutes. The visitors included their new signing Dan Crowley in their starting eleven while Corey O’Keefe and teenage defenders Ryan Burke and Joe Redmond were on the substitute bench. Curtis was particularly impressive with Harness also showing some glimpses of quality while Crowley, deployed in a strange forward position, showed some neat touches but was unable to make any real impact before his withdrawal after fifty five minutes.

Linfield were in Europa League third qualifying round action when they travelled to face Sutjeska Niksic the champions of Montenegro in the first leg on Tuesday evening. The Belfast side put themselves in the driving seat for the second leg by coming from behind to secure a two one victory.

 

Both semi-finals of the 2019 EA Sports Cup were set for completion on Monday evening but the contest between Dundalk and Bohemian has been postponed because of the ‘Lilywhites’ involvement in the Europa League third qualifying round first leg, when they travel to face Slovan Bratislava at 7.15pm on Wednesday evening.

The second semi-final saw Derry City overcome Waterford, after extra-time, by four goals to two in the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium. Teenage striker David Parkhouse scored all four goals for the victorious ‘Candystripes’.  

Relegated Huddersfield Town began their challenge to return to the top flight on Monday evening with a home contest against Derby County which ended in a two one defeat. Captain Richard Keogh was in his regular centre back position for the victorious ‘Rams’ while teenager Jason Knight was introduced from the substitute bench for the final seven minutes.

Bristol City included Callum O’Dowda in their starting eleven as they played host to promotion favourites Leeds United in Ashton Gate on Sunday afternoon. The visitors were very impressive and dominant throughout and while O’Dowda did show some neat touches and provided a couple of dangerous crosses he, like most of his colleagues, could make little impact against their vibrant visitors. Leeds won the match by three goals to one with the second goal scored by Patrick Bamford who has been the subject of much debate in relation to his international football aspirations. On today’s performance, he does look to have the necessary quality.