Bit O’Red interest in international games
IT WAS a week of mostly highs and a few lows for past and present Sligo Rovers figures on the international stage this week.
Tubbercurry native Liam Kerrigan, who plays his club football with UCD, made an impression in his first international outing for the Republic of Ireland men’s U-21 side.
He enjoyed a particularly impressive second-half in the 2-0 win over Luxembourg last Friday night, most notably winning the penalty which Conor Coventry converted to seal the win. He did not feature in Tuesday’s 2-1 loss away to Montenegro.
Johnny Kenny, Niall Morahan and Luke McNicholas were called up for the U-21 game against Montenegro in the event that English-based players could travel due to health guidelines, but an easing of restrictions allowed a number of those players to travel, meaning the Rovers trio did not feature in the matchday squad. Both of these U-21 games were qualifiers for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in 2023.
As a result of his involvement in the U-21 squad, Rovers striker Kenny – currently the team’s leading scorer in his debut season at senior level
– did not feature in either of the Republic of Ireland men’s U-19 team friendlies against Sweden, both ending in 2-2 and 1-1 draws. Rovers teenage goalkeeper Conor Walsh, an academy starlet, started all three games for the Republic of Ireland Boys U-17 team in their UEFA Under-17 European Championship qualifying group.
Walsh kept clean sheets in a 5-0 win over Andorra and
2-0 victory against North Macedonia. Ireland’s progress to the next qualification stage was already secured before yesterday’s game with Poland, which saw another start for Walsh, a Mayo native.
Rovers defender Daniel Kelly was named on the bench for all three U-17 fixtures, but did not make an appearance against either Andorra or North Macedonia.
Meanwhile, ex-Rovers winger Daryl Horgan started in the Republic of Ireland men’s Senior team’s 3-0 win over Azerbaijan, providing the assist for Callum Robinson’s second goal.
Matt Doherty, son of Sligo native Tom, also started against Azerbaijan and in the 4-0 friendly victory over Qatar while Harry Arter, whose grandparents are from Sligo, made a late cameo appearance on Tuesday against Qatar for his 19th cap.
Elsewhere, former Bit O’Red boss Ian Baraclough had a difficult international window as his Northern Ireland side lost back-to-back FIFA World Cup qualifiers, a 2-0 defeat to Switzerland and 2-1 loss to Bulgaria.