A number of our academy players have been busy on the international scene over the past number of weeks.
Sean Spaight and TJ Molloy (pictured above), who were regulars in Thomas McShane’s MU15 team this season, played a big part in the Republic of Ireland’s win at the UEFA Development Tournament in Serbia last week.
The Lilywhites duo, who took part in a three-day training camp in Dublin in October, were part of Jason Donohue’s squad for the three-game tournament against Greece, Serbia and Venezuela.
The Young Boys In Green got off to a flying start with former Ardee Celtic starlet TJ on the mark with a fine strike in a 3-1 win over Greece on Tuesday morning.
Sean also started that game and the former Rock Celtic player was handed the captain’s armband for the second fixture against the hosts, which ended in a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes with Ireland winning on penalties.
The lads finished the week on a high and TJ scored Ireland’s first goal, and Sean also started, in a 3-1 win over Venezuela on Saturday morning that saw the lads return home with the trophy.
The 20-player squad, which is made up of 19 players from the EA SPORTS LOI Academy, will be back in action in the new year when they take on Australia.
Sarah McCaffrey in action for the Republic of Ireland WU16 team in their international friendly against Scotland at Oriam in Edinburgh. Photo: Ian Cairns
Sarah captains WU16s in Scotland
Sarah McCaffrey, who is part of our WU17 squad, had a night to remember in Edinburgh recently when she wore the captain’s armband and also scored in the Republic of Ireland WU16 team’s 3-1 victory over Scotland.
Senan on duty with MU19s
Senan Mullen was a late call-up to the Republic of Ireland’s MU19 squad for their UEFA European Championship qualifiers in Albania. The Lilywhites midfielder came on as a late substitute in the 3-1 win over the hosts and the 1-0 defeat against Belgium and was an unused sub in the 0-0 draw with Slovenia.
