THE Irish International Schools side departs for the island of Jersey on Sunday evening to take part in a friendly international tournament and Coach Hugh Colhoun believes it will be an important experience for his side:
Facing games against Guernsey, hosts Jersey and Northern Ireland in a three/day period, the Irish side are preparing for the Centenary Shield, which begins at the end of February:
It is the first year that the Irish Schools side have been invited to take part in the friendly tournament and Colhoun sees it as a very usual preparation tool ahead of the highlight of their international calendar:
"The fact that Northern Ireland is also taking part in this tournament so close to our clash with them in the Centenary Shield is interesting for us," said the coach:
"It will be the first time that we play a friendly against a side we are taking on in a competitive international soon after, so it will be interesting to see how that develops:
"I am expecting that Jersey // who drew with Northern Ireland in last year's competition // will be strong also, so we are expecting a couple of pretty competitive games in that respect:"
The Irish side prepared for the trip by defeating a UCD selection, including some of the League of Ireland club's first team players, 2/1 at the weekend:
When Ireland return from Jersey they will face home fixtures against Wales and England and away ties with Scotland and Northern Ireland between February 26 and the conclusion of the Centenary Shield on April 24:
Since first entering the international tournament in 2003, Ireland have never lost a game and are current holders, after defeating England at Sunderland's Stadium of Light last year, but their coach is keen to keep his side's feet on the ground:
"You can nearly afford to drop one point in the Centenary Shield competition but anymore than that and you are in trouble, so it is very competitive and our record does not necessarily mean we have always been successful," said the Irish coach:
"Every year is different and it doesn't get any easier, so you never get an easy game, but we are confident of going into it and doing ourselves justice:"
/ Gavin Earley