Aaron’s pick-me-up

AARON DOBBS got a nice pick-me-up on Saturday when his name was included on the 20-man Republic of Ireland Under-19 squad named by head coach Tom Mohan for the upcoming UEFA European Championship Elite Round qualifiers in Portugal.

The Enniscorthy lad had featured on Friday night in Wexford F.C’s record 8-1 hammering in the league against Drogheda United, so this news was exactly what the doctor ordered.

And it came as no surprise, as Dobbs had scored twice in a recent international friendly to underline his quality, making the most of his chance to impress in the process.

Another notable inclusion on that Under-19 squad is ex-Good Counsel student Thomas O’Connor, a native of Rosbercon who has been with Southampton for quite some time.

A Rossonian from the other side of the river also had reason to be happy on Friday, as Rochdale’s Ryan Delaney was selected on Noel King’s international Under-21 squad for upcoming matches against Iceland and Azerbaijan in Tallaght Stadium, on this Thursday and Tuesday week respectively.

The ex-New Ross C.B.S. student manned the left centre-half position once again for his Lancashire club on Saturday when they picked up a valuable point in their battle to avoid relegation from League One, drawing 1-1 with AFC Wimbledon at Spotland.