THE Ireland Under 18 boy’s international schools side yesterday put the final touches on their preparation for an upcoming Centenary Shield opener against Wales:
The schoolboys in green kick-off their competitive campaign in Wrexham in a fortnight (Thursday March 6, 2014 7pm KO):
Following last year’s joint/second finish with England behind tournament winners Northern Ireland, Ollie Horgan’s new/look side will be hoping to get Ireland back to the top of the pile come April:
The usual finale against England has been changed to a final showdown with Scotland at Dublin’s Tallaght Stadium on April 24th (7pm KO):
That is almost a month after the trip to Bristol’s Ashton Gate to face the old enemy on March 28:
For now though, the Wales opener and the St Patrick’s Day visit of holders Northern Ireland to the Showgrounds in Sligo on March 17 (3pm KO) is all that matters to Horgan’s side:
The Finn Harps manager also, Horgan had his 21/man panel in Ballybofey this week on a training camp:
Following a recent 2-1 win over Shelbourne’s Under/18 side in Dublin – with Jamie McGrath and Daire Black on target – Ireland’s hopefuls played Harps’ senior team on Wednesday, before yesterday evening’s clash with their Under 19 side:
A rule change to the age limit for the competition has made this year’s Ireland squad a younger one than last year:
Michael Browne from Clonkeen College and Darragh Gannon of Lucan Community College are two of the Dublin representatives, with North Kildare school Salesian College putting two players forward in the shape of Jack Bayly and Dylan Kavanagh:
“A good start is obviously very important,” insists assistant manager Dave Archbold, who is joined in the backroom staff this year by Paddy O’Reilly:
“You never really look beyond England – because of the resources they have and the talent pool – at the start of the season but good results against Wales and Northern Ireland would set us up nicely:”