Ireland on the hunt for victory in Scotland

The U18 FAI Schools (Boys) will line out against Scotland in their second competitive fixture of the Carnegie Centenary Shield on Friday, 13 March in Hearts FC, Tynecastle (KO 7pm):

Manager, Hugh Colhoun has one major injury concern ahead of the crunch clash with the Scots: Captain, Jason Hughes of Limerick CBS was stretchered off during Ireland’s 3-1 win against Wales a fortnight ago: Hughes sustained ligament damage to his ankle and will be hoping that the intensive treatment he received during the interval will be enough to see him return to the squad:

Shane Howard, Carnegie’s Man of the Match in the Welsh game, will be hoping to maintain his match winning performance: His well executed goal on three minutes was a welcome start to the Irish defence of their title:

Fellow goalscorers Andrew Boyle and James Keohane will also be hoping for a call up to the starting eleven following their great performance in the opening game:

The Scottish management have prepared well for the Centenary Shield campaign which saw the team travel to Cyprus for a week - long training camp in mid February:

However, these sessions did not pay dividends as the Scots suffered their first defeat of the campaign when they travelled to Northern Ireland two weeks ago: The Northerners came from a goal behind to secure a valuable win for the North:

Scotland will be looking to improve on their recent performance and will no doubt put in a solid performance against the Republic in Tynecastle:

Ireland’s quest for success will be helped by the return of three influential players: Neil Harney, St: Aloysius College, Jason Dwane, St: Peter’s College, Navan and Robert Benson, Marist College, Athlone will return to the panel after recovering from recent injuries:

Aaron McCarey, St: Macartan’s College, Monaghan will also make a welcome return:

The Irish know only too well how resilient the Scots can be:  Scotland snatched a 2-2 draw against the Republic when they met last season: Colhoun does not want a repeat performance on Friday and encourages Ireland to remain vigilant at all times:

Hugh Colhoun is an experienced campaigner having been involved with the Schools team since 1998:  The Republic’s dominance in this competition is evident throughout their long history in the Centenary Shield, which commenced in 2002/03 and the team have been unbeaten since: A fantastic achievement for any International side:

The Irish management are conscious that the title race is left wide open as England got their campaign off to a flying start last Friday (5 March) as they eased to a 3/0 victory against Wales at the Staffstart Stadium, home to Boston United Football Club:Superstar Danny Watson put England 2-0 up at the interval with centre half, James Libby scoring from a header in the 85^th minute to seal victory for the English men:

The young lions’ comprehensive performance put England level on three points with the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, at the top of the group, with one game apiece played so far:

The Republic of Ireland will be hoping to produce the magic from last season and retain both the Celtic Cup and Carnegie Centenary Shield this season with a win away to Scotland on Friday: The Republic have another difficult away fixture to Northern Ireland on March 20 which takes place in Riada Stadium, Ballymoney: The final game of the series for Ireland will see them host England at the RSC, Waterford on April 24 which will be live on Sky Sports, KO 7:35pm:

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