Centenary Shield | U18 Boys’ International
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Centenary Shield showdown on Thursday
Republic of Ireland vs Northern Ireland
WILLIAM O’CONNOR’S Republic of Ireland Schools will entertain Northern Ireland in their penultimate fixture of this season’s series in Monaghan United FC this Thursday, March 29 at 2pm.
Also doing battle that evening across the water will be Wales and England as they meet in Cardiff Met University at 7pm.
At the midway point in the Shield series, it’s the Republic of Ireland and Scotland that are enjoying the fruits of their labour.
The Irish travelled to Wales on opening night and came out 2-1 winners while they played out a scoreless draw away to England a fortnight ago to establish a foothold on the League Table with four points in the bag.
Scotland are in a similar position having earned a point at home to Northern Ireland in the second outing of the series last month. This performance was certainly improved upon last week when they overcame a physical English side 0-2 in York to ensure a valuable three points.
O’Connor’s opponents, Northern Ireland head into this game having drawn their first two. A must win on Thursday may recapture their title ambitions having sealed Joint Champions status last season with England. Frankie Wilson’s men played out a scoreless draw away to Scotland while the Welsh levelled proceedings in Armagh to make it evens, one apiece.
The Republic of Ireland will be strengthened by the return of Dublin duo Lido Lofeta (Balbriggan Community College) and Peter Adigun (Riversdale Community College) for this clash. The lads missed out on the trip to Kenilworth Road a fortnight ago but will be eager to impress this week if called upon.
Historically the Republic of Ireland have enjoyed the upper hand with their previous meetings with the North. Out of the last 21, they have drawn 6, won 9 and lost 6. In fact, Gortakeegan has played host to these two sides on three occasions. Back in 2000 when the Republic lost 2-1, two years later, they reversed the result winning out 2-0 victors while in 2004 the hosts claimed a 2-1 advantage.
Scotland will watch on with anticipation on Thursday evening as they await the results of these two games. The Scots will travel to Whitehall on April 12 for their third match of their campaign while they finish the season a week later when the Welsh visit.
O’Connor’s crew will crave another three points if they are to keep their dreams alive of some silverware this season. They last captured the Centenary Shield title back in 2015 so a win on Thursday would set it up nicely for them against the Tartan Army in a fortnight’s time.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND | Daniel Houghton & Kieran Farren (Carndonagh Community School), Adam O’Connor (St. Clare’s College, Ballyjamesduff), James Carroll (St. Oliver’s Community College, Drogheda), 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), Physio Mickey McGlynn Doctor Aiden O’Colmain
NORTHERN IRELAND | Declan Dunne, Caolan Coyle, Aaron Donnelly, Adam McAleenan, Ruari O’Hare, Jack Henderson, Andrew Scott, Jack Malone, Aaron McGurk, Caoimhin McConnell, Jack O’Mahony
SUBS | Scott Pengelly (GK), Liam Hassin, Matthew Stephenson, Connor Maxwell, Jamie Glover, Kofi Balmer, Patrick Burns, Eamon McLaughlin, Pablo Andrade, Adam Carroll
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)
2018 Centenary Shield Fixtures
March 29 Republic of Ireland vs Northern Ireland Monaghan United FC (2pm)
March 29 Wales vs England Cardiff Metropolitan University FC (7pm)
April 6 Northern Ireland vs England Queen’s University, Belfast (7pm)
April 12 Republic of Ireland vs Scotland Home Farm FC, Whitehall (2pm)
April 19 Scotland vs Wales Queen of the South FC (7pm)
END