HAIL NEW ROYAL CLAN
Meath men Lenihan, Mcgrath & Fergie all hoping to sit at King Kenny’s top table
MEATH are triple handed in this Ireland squad to face Greece with teenager Evan Ferguson already the most high profile of the Royals.
But Darragh Lenihan is still clinging onto hope that he could be the sleeper in the pack ahead of a vital double-header, despite winning just three caps in five years.
When he made his debut in a friendly win over USA under Martin O’neill in 2018, the Middlesbrough centre-back became the first Meathman to win a senior cap.
A county starved of representation at the top level then doubled its haul when Jamie Mcgrath made his bow under Stephen Kenny three years later.
And now Ferguson has burst onto the scene like a whirlwind after an eye-catching breakthrough season in the Premier League that has alerted Europe’s biggest clubs.
Lenihan – whose brother Donal is part of the Meath GAA panel chasing Tailteann Cup glory this summer – said: “It’s brilliant.
“The work people are doing behind the scenes in the county has obviously been working, fingers crossed there will be many more in years to come.
“You have Evan doing so well and it’s great for the county and people back home are going to be proud and hopefully there will be many more in the future.”
On Ferguson, Lenihan continued: “He just takes it game by game. He shouldn’t get too ahead of himself, just be level headed.
“Be controlled emotionally, don’t get too high or too low. I’m sure Evan knows that.
“He’s working under a brilliant manager in Roberto De Zerbi and should learn as much as he can.
“You would never know where he could end up in a couple of years, but I’m sure it’s going to be somewhere good.”
Lenihan is competing in an exceptionally tough centre-back department with John Egan, Nathan Collins, Andrew Omobamidele, Dara O’shea and Shane Duffy all preferred. “It’s a great squad and we’re lucky to have these options. This team is all about helping one another, being good team-mates and pushing each other.”
Lenihan – just finished a degree in Sports Science – is in good form having helped drive Middlesbrough to the Championship playoff semi-finals, only to lose to Coventry City.
He is putting his hand up for inclusion in Athens. Particularly so with Duffy – who joined Norwich City during the week – not in this squad and Omobamidele out injured.