Sligo Rovers pair in Irish schoolboys squad for Scotland game



Tubbercurry’s Liam Kerrigan will once again be part of the Republic Of Ireland’s schoolboys squad for their Centenary Shield game against Scotland at Home Farm FC in Whitehall at 2pm today.

The Sligo Rovers midfielder is a student at St Attracta’s Community School, and will be joined in the Irish squad by Rovers team-mate Luke McNicholas, who is a student at Mayo’s Balla Secondary School.

William O’Connor’s scholars are in a commanding position with a win and two draws under their belts and are currently in second spot on the leader board with five points. Northern Ireland finished out 3-1 winners against England last week in Queens University to see them finish on a high but the remaining three teams in contention will look to go one better.  Scotland are currently in third with four points from two games while Wales are also on four points from three games.

The visitors had a slow start to their season with a scoreless draw at home to Northern Ireland but they captured a major scalp against England in York City three weeks ago. The 0-2 win for the tartan army was the first on English soil since 2000. Daniel MacKay converted the opener following a missed penalty earlier in the day while the talented Nathan Fell came off the bench to convert at a crucial time in proceedings.

No doubt confidence is high in the Scotland camp as they feature in their penultimate outing. The Shield run will be complete when Scotland entertain Wales next week in Queen of the South FC. However the Irish will be hoping to wrap up proceedings before this when the sides face off later today!

There is one change to the Republic of Ireland side that drew 0-0 with Northern Ireland a fortnight ago. Colm Whelan of Grennan College has been drafted in to replace the injured James Carroll of St. Oliver’s CC, Drogheda. The Thomastown youngster was capped in Luton last month and will enjoy a return to the squad.

Scotland also have one change to their select which sees newbie Ben Harwood in for the experienced Ryan Connelly who was capped in 2017.

Interestingly in the last 18 seasons, the Irish have gained the upper hand in this head to head battle with the Republic of Ireland winning on 9 occasions, drawing 6 and losing just 3. Though the most recent defeat came twelve months ago when Captain Kyle Banner headed home the match winner after just ten minutes on the clock to see Scotland take full points in Renfrew FC.

This game will be a stern test for O’Connor’s side who have yet to capitalise on their goal scoring opportunities as they’ve netted just twice in this series, both from set pieces. Nevertheless two clean sheets has seen them in a wonderful position to recapture the title they last won three seasons ago. All to play for as the action gets underway at 2pm in Home Farm FC.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND SELECT | Daniel Houghton & Kieran Farren (Carndonagh Community School), Adam O’Connor (St. Clare’s College, Ballyjamesduff), Colm Whelan(Grennan College, Thomastown), Luke McNicholas (Balla Secondary School), Darryl Walsh (St. Declan’s Community College), Ronan Manning & Adam Rooney (Yeats College, Galway), Liam Kerrigan (St. Attracta’s CS, Tubbercurry), Cian Lee (Boyne Community School), Peter Adigun (Riversdale Community College), Ali Regbha (Chanel College, Coolock), Jack Ryan (Templeogue College), Jake Walker (St. Kevin’s Community College, Clondalkin) Lido Lofeta (Balbriggan Community College), Rory Doyle(St. Francis College, Rochestown), Cian Murphy (Coláiste Dun Iascaigh, Cahir), Adam Conway (De La Salle College, Waterford)

MANAGEMENT | Head Coach William O’Connor (Balbriggan Community College), Coach John McShane (Dublin Oak Academy, Bray),  GK Coach Conor Foley (Athlone Community College), Performance Analyst Ollie Horgan (St. Eunan’s College, Letterkenny), Equipment Manager Darryl Mooney (Balbriggan Community College), PhysioMickey McGlynn Doctor Aiden O’Colmain

SCOTLAND | Elliot Anderson, Fraser Currid, Sean Fagan, Jack McDowall, Nathan Brown, Aidan McKeown, Gavin Watt, Cameron Clark, Kieran Chalmers, Nathan Fell, Jack Hodge, Aidan Kemp, Daniel MacKay, Reece Rintoul, Gavin Scott, Declan Walsh, Ben Harwood, Sam Walker

2018 Centenary Shield Results

February 15         Wales 1-2 Republic of Ireland                       The Rock, Cefn Druids FC (7pm)

March 9                Scotland 0-0 Northern Ireland                    Renfrew FC (7pm)

March 15              Northern Ireland 1-1 Wales                             Armagh City AFC (2pm)

March 16              England 0-0 Republic of Ireland                 Kenilworth Stadium, Luton Town FC (7pm)

March 23              England 0-2 Scotland                                      Bootham Crescent, York City FC (7pm)

March 29             Republic of Ireland 0-0 Northern Ireland        Monaghan United FC (2pm)

March 29             Wales 1-0 England                                              Cardiff Metropolitan University FC (7pm)

April 6                   Northern Ireland 3-1 England                        Queen’s University, Belfast (7pm)

 

2018 Centenary Shield Fixtures

April 12                  Republic of Ireland vs Scotland                  Home Farm FC, Whitehall (2pm)

April 19                 Scotland vs Wales                                             Queen of the South FC (7pm)



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