News

Injury forces withdrawal of Travers and Browne…26/05/2019

Twenty year old AFC Bournemouth goalkeeper Mark Travers has been forced to withdraw from the Republic of Ireland squad for the upcoming European Championship qualifiers against Denmark and Gibraltar. Travers sustained a fractured thumb during Friday morning’s training session and will return to Bournemouth for surgery. Injury has also ruled out Preston North End midfielder Alan Browne.

Travers is replaced by 22 year old Bohemian goalkeeper James Talbot who spent five years at Sunderland before his return home. Talbot will be released to play for Bohemian during the international period.

Goalkeeping coach Alan Kelly has also invited 22 year old Bristol City goalkeeper Max O’Leary to join the training squad. O’Leary qualifies through his grandfather but his documentation has not yet been processed.

Irish set for crucial Saturday action…25/05/2019

Scottish Cup Final
The 2019 Scottish Cup Final between Glasgow Celtic and Heart of Midlothian took place in Hampden Park on Saturday afternoon with Celtic coming from behind to secure a two one victory in a somewhat uninspiring contest. Jonny Hayes was in the Celtic starting eleven while Jake Mulraney started for Hearts with Colin Doyle and Leeds United loanee Conor Shaughnessy both unused on the substitute bench while a knee injury had ruled out Aiden Keena

League Two Play-off Final
The League Two play-off final between Newport County and Tranmere Rovers went to extra-time at Wembley Stadium on Saturday afternoon after the contest remained goalless at the end of normal time. The Merseyside team garnered victory with the only goal in the final minutes of extra-time. The Welsh side included Padraig Amond and captain  Mark O’Brien in their starting eleven with O’Brien being dismissed on eighty nine minutes following his second yellow card. 

Friday evening in the Airtricity League…24/05/2019

There was a full Airtricity League Premier Division programme played this Friday evening.
RTE 2 brought live coverage of the Bohemian and Sligo Rovers meeting in Dalymount Park which saw the first half extended by eighteen minutes as a consequence of serious injuries to Dinny Corcoran of the hosts and Dante Leverock for the visitors in two unrelated incidents. The visitors collected all three points with a late winner in a two one victory.
Current goal difference leaders Dundalk welcomed St Patrick’s Athletic to Oriel Park and secured the points with another very late winner while second place Shamrock Rovers defeated Cork C
ity by two goals to nil in Tallaght Stadium. The North West ‘Derby’ in the Brandywell went the way of the hosts Derry City who crushed Finn Harps by four goals to nil while hosts Waterford scored the only goal in the RSC to defeat visitors UCD.

                            P   W  D  L   F   A   G/D  Pts
Dundalk                    19  13  4  2  33  11   22    43
Shamrock Rovers            19  14  1  4  30  10   20    43
Bohemian                   19   9  4  6  18  12    6    31
Derry City                 19   8  6  5  28  19    9    30
St Patrick’s Athletic      19   7  5  7  15  17   -2    26
Sligo Rovers               18   6  6  6  18  21   -3    24
Waterford                  18   6  5  7  26  26    –    23
Cork City                  19   6  4  9  15  22   -7    22
UCD                        19   3  1 15  13  34  -21    10
Finn Harps                 19   2  4 13  16  40  -24    10

There were four Airtricity League First Division contests played this Friday evening. Cabinteely journied to face Limerick in the Markets Field where they went down to a one nil defeat while Shelbourne scored the only goal to defeat Cobh Ramblers in Tolka Park. Drogheda United defeated visitors Galway United by three goals to nil in United Park with Bray Wanderers beating visitors Wexford by two goals to one in the Carlisle Grounds. 

Midland clubs Longford Town and Athlone Town faced each other in City Calling Stadium on Saturday evening with the hosts emerging victorious by three goals to one.

                            P  W  D  L   F   A    G/D  Pts
Shelbourne                 14  9  1  4  22  12    10    28
Longford Town              13  8  3  2  17   6    11    27

Drogheda United            14  8  2  4  29  18    11    26
Cabinteely                 14  8  2  4  19  18     1    26
Bray Wanderers             14  8  1  5  20  11     9    25
Limerick                   14  7  3  4  16  13     3    24
Galway United              13  4  0  9  15  18    -3    12
Cobh Ramblers              14  3  3  8  17  23    -6    12
Athlone Town               14  3  1 10  14  32   -18    10
Wexford                    14  2  2 10  14  32   -18     8

Kenny announces Toulon U21 Squad…21/05/2019

Manager Stephen Kenny has announced his 22 man Republic of Ireland Under 21 squad for the 2019 Maurice Revello Toulon Tournament which will take place in Provence, France between the 3rd and 15th June 2019.
The competition comprises three groups of four. Ireland will contest Group C with Bahrain, China and Mexico with the three group winners and best runner-up progressing to the semi-final stage, while the remaining eight nations will play-off for position.

Squad
Goalkeepers: Conor Kearns(UCD), Caoimhin Kelleher(Liverpool)
Defenders: Canice Carroll(Brentford), Darragh Leahy(Bohemian), Conor Masterson(Liverpool), Lee O’Connor(Manchester United), Dara O’Shea(West Bromwich Albion), Liam Scales(UCD), Tyreke Wilson(Manchester City)
Midfielders: Conor Coventry(West Ham United), Zachery Elbouzedi(Waterford), Neil Farrugia(UCD), Jason Knight(Derby County), Jamie Lennon(St Patrick’s Athletic), Stephen Mallon(Sheffield United), Jayson Molumby(Brighton & Hove Albion), Simon Power(Norwich City), Connor Ronan(Wolverhampton Wanderers), Jack Taylor(Barnet)
Forwards: Aaron Connolly(Brighton & Hove Albion), Aaron Drinan(Ipswich Town-on loan at Waterford), Adam Idah(Norwich City)

Fixtures:
Monday 3 June v China Stade de Lattre 3.30pm
Thursday 6 June v Mexico Stade Parsemain 7.30pm
Sunday 9 June v Bahrain Stade Jules Ladoumegue 3.00pm
Wednesday 12 June Semi-Finals and Play-offs
Saturday 15 June Final

 

McCarthy confirms EURO 2020 qualifiers squad…20/05/2019

Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy has finalised his squad for the upcoming EURO 2020 qualifiers against Denmark and Gibraltar.

There are two notable additions to the squad in goalkeeper Sean McDermott of Kristiansund BK who replaces the injured Kieran O’Hara and eighteen year old Bolton Wanderers midfielder Luca Connell who receives his first senior call up.

The original training squad announced on the 7th May has been reduced to 27, four of whom, Josh Cullen, Richard Keogh, Conor Hourihane and Glenn Whelan will not travel to the Portugal training camp as they will be involved with their clubs in the Wembley play-off finals. The five day training camp at Quinta do Lago is set to commence on Tuesday the 21st May 2019. 

The four players excluded from the provisional squad are Harry Arter, Jack Byrne, James Collins and Aiden O’Brien.

Squad
Goalkeepers:
Sean McDermott(Kristiansund BK), Darren Randolph(Middlesbrough), Mark Travers(AFC Bournemouth)
Defenders:
Seamus Coleman(Everton), Greg Cunningham(Cardiff City), Matt Doherty(Wolverhampton Wanderers), Shane Duffy(Brighton & Hove Albion), John Egan(Sheffield United), Richard Keogh(Derby County), Kevin Long(Burnley), Enda Stevens(Sheffield United)

Midfielders:  Robbie Brady(Burnley), Alan Browne(Preston North End), Luca Connell(Bolton Wanderers), Josh Cullen(West Ham United), Ronan Curtis(Portsmouth), Jeff Hendrick(Burnley), Conor Hourihane(Aston Villa), Alan Judge(Ipswich Town), James McClean(Stoke City), Callum O’Dowda(Bristol City), Glenn Whelan(Aston Villa)
Forwards:
Scott Hogan(Aston Villa), Shane Long(Southampton), Sean Maguire(Preston North End), David McGoldrick(Sheffield United),  Callum Robinson(Preston North End) 

Monday night in the Airtricity League…20/05/2019

There were three fixtures played on Monday evening in the Airtricity League Premier Division. Goal difference leaders Dundalk defeated third place Bohemian by two goals to one in a fraught Oriel Park encounter. The visitors took a second minute lead which they held until mid way through the second half when the hosts equalised. Bohemian had been reduced to ten men with a red card some ten minutes prior to the equaliser and they lost the match to a penalty kick six minutes into added time. Meanwhile second place Shamrock Rovers journied North West to face Finn Harps and secured a comfortable three nil victory. The third contest saw hosts UCD lose to the only goal from visitors Cork City in the Bowl.

There was one further match played on  Tuesday evening with St Patrick’s Athletic scoring the only goal to defeat Derry City in Richmond Park.

                            P   W  D  L   F   A   G/D  Pts
Dundalk                    18  12  4  2  32  11   21    40
Shamrock Rovers            18  13  1  4  28  10   18    40
Bohemian                   18   9  4  5  17  10    7    31
Derry City                 18   7  6  5  24  19    5    27
St Patrick’s Athletic      18   7  5  6  15  16   -1    26
Cork City                  18   6  4  8  15  20   -5    22
Sligo Rovers               17   5  6  6  16  20   -4    21
Waterford                  17   5  5  7  25  26   -1    20
Finn Harps                 18   2  4 12  16  36  -20    10
UCD                        18   3  1 14  13  33  -20    10

There was also one First Division fixture played this evening with Bray Wanderers defeating Galway United by two goals to one in the Carlisle Grounds.

                            P  W  D  L   F   A    G/D  Pts
Cabinteely                 13  8  2  3  19  17     2    26
Shelbourne                 13  8  1  4  21  12     9    25
Longford Town              12  7  3  2  14   5     9    24
Drogheda United            13  7  2  4  26  18     8    23
Bray Wanderers             13  7  1  5  18  10     8    22
Limerick                   13  6  3  4  15  13     2    21
Galway United              12  4  0  8  15  15     –    12
Cobh Ramblers              13  3  3  7  17  22    -5    12
Athlone Town               13  3  1  9  13  29   -16    10
Wexford                    13  2  2  9  13  30   -17     8