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Daily Record
6 days ago
- Daily Record
Killian Phillips reveals 'superhero' behind Ireland and St Mirren dream and those tears at Aviva Stadium
MIdfielder's powerful performances for Paisley side saw him win his first caps last month - not he's desperate to keep his spot in Heimer Hallgrimson's squad. In Killian Phillips' own words it's been quite a journey. From kicking about public parks for his boys club back in the Kilbarrack suburb of Dublin to running out for his national team at the Aviva Stadium slap bang in the middle of the city. The route in between jumped from Drogheda to Crystal Palace, Shrewsbury, Aberdeen and now Paisley. And all the time the juggernaut midfielder had his mum Cora, not quite by his side, but certainly driving him on to achieve a lifetime's ambition to play for Ireland. So when the St Mirren star climbed off the bench in the 67th minute of last month's 1-1 friendly draw with Senegal it was the proudest moment of his life. And when the final whistle blew he made a beeline for the person who made it all possible - the woman he calls a superhero. A video of the 23-year-old and his mum sharing an emotionally charged embrace by the side of the Aviva went viral on social media. And Phillips said: 'It was very emotional. My mum has given up so much of her life and dreams as well to help me pursue mine. 'Not going to a pub on a Saturday night or something because we'd have a match on a Sunday. 'She was standing in the lashing rain all over Kilbarrack, all over Dublin, taking me everywhere to then be in the Aviva Stadium watching me. 'That was probably what I'm most proud about — the journey that me and my ma's been on. 'Without my ma, I wouldn't be here now. She's been so good. She's a superhero. 'The way she's looked after me and given up her life for mine. 'To go from Roseglen, Kilbarrack to the Aviva stadium, it's the proudest thing I've ever done. 'It was the best day of my life to make it to the Aviva. I must have had almost 200 people there from around my area, family and my friends. 'It probably still hasn't even sunk in fully, but it was a special day and a special feeling. 'When the manager called me to go on, it kind of gave me a fright a little bit. I was kind of in a state of shock. 'It never really hit me until I was stood on the white line about to come on and looked up to the big screen and saw myself. I'd come a long way. 'It was nuts. I was up against Everton's Ilian Ndiaye, if you go through the Senegal team, it's all top five leagues, all great players. 'A few days later they beat England 3-1. They're a proper, proper outfit. I think we were 10 minutes from beating them. 'We would have been the first team to beat them in almost 30 games. It was good kind for getting us ready for the World Cup qualifiers.' Those qualifiers kick off against Hungary and Armenia in September. And Phillips knows the only way to guarantee his spot Heimir Hallgrimson's squad is to continue turning on the style for Saints. His Paisley performances won him the Buddies' player of the year award in May as well as his international call-up. Now it's about being even better. This afternoon's Premier Sports Cup clash with Ayr will be a huge test for Stephen Robinson's side. Phillips finally cut ties with Crystal Palace after three and a half years - mostly spent out on loan - in May. But having seen his Eagles mates stun Manchester City to win the League Cup south of the border, he knows anything is possible. He said: 'We've spoken about it a lot as a group. We want to go on a good cup run. 'You want as many honours as you can in football. 'I want to give the club good days and put myself into history, help put the boys into history. We know how big this competition is. 'I was delighted to see Palace win the cup. 'It was the same day we played our last game of the season against Celtic. I went straight home and stuck it on the telly and watched it. 'It's players that I've played with and shared dressing rooms with. It's what that club deserves. 'It's a proper football club with proper fans. Similar to St Mirren. A club in a working class area. 'Two proper football clubs. I'm delighted to be involved with both of them.' Phillips made his only top team appearance for Palace under Patrick Viera. And he said: 'He took a liking to me. He was always there to give advice. 'He asked if I was him or Keano I liked better. Obviously, I said it was him, even if was Keano!. 'For a World Cup winner like Patrick Vieira to give you a debut as a centre midfielder was amazing. 'I'll always be grateful for everything he's done and all the little things he's done for me.'
Belfast Telegraph
6 days ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Mike Browne wins Race of Legends finale to seal Armoy four-timer
The Republic of Ireland rider is only the fourth winner of the blue riband Superbike race along with Ryan Farquhar, Michael Dunlop and Davey Todd. Browne also won the Open race for a big bike double and added another win in the Supersport race for a brace in the class on the BPE/Russell Racing Yamaha after opening his account on Friday. The Cork man left himself with work to do in the Race of Legends finale after fluffing his lines at the start on his new Honda. Browne was in fourth place on the opening lap but soon forced his way into contention as he chased after pole man and race leader Paul Jordan on the Jackson Racing Honda. He quickly passed Marcus Simpson and Michael Sweeney to pursue Jordan and was ahead of the Ulsterman by the end of lap three. Jordan had no answer as Browne set the fastest lap of the race at 106.898mph to pull away. He won by 4.313s from Jordan, with Sweeney (MJR BMW) holding off Conor Cummins (Burrows/RK Racing BMW) and Jamie Coward (KTS Racing BMW) to secure the final podium place in the final Irish road race of the year. Browne only rode the Honda for the first time at the Southern 100 earlier this month but has gelled quickly with the machine. 'Alistair (Russell) and the team done an awful lot of work the last two weeks because we just got that bike and we're trying to make it our own,' he said. 'We're still actually missing a few bits to finish it off but they done some job to get us on the grid even and turned the bike inside-out, and it was our second time on the bike so it's confidence going forward – it's a good bike.' Jordan held his hands up for a wrong tyre choice on the front of his Honda, with the Magherafelt rider choosing an intermediate. Some rain showers had left parts of the County Antrim course damp, but these dried out rapidly as the big race began. 'We went for the wrong tyre choice on the front which is my own fault,' Jordan said. 'To be honest, ten minutes before the start we were still on a wet set-up and fair play to the boys, the rear shock was out, and to get them a second is good.' The Open race was delayed after a rain shower but it made little difference to Browne, who never looked back after passing early pacesetter Sweeney. In tricky conditions, he went on to win the reduced six-lap race by almost nine seconds from Sweeney, while Jordan finished third on his 600cc Jackson Racing Honda machine. 'That was just a gamble with what set-up to use, with half dry, half wet (conditions),' said Browne. 'It was bone dry down to the village but then very wet at the last road end. 'It was very hard to work out and it was tough, but it was nice that everyone got around as well there because it was tricky.' Coward, Neil Kernohan (Yamaha) and Cummins were the top six. In the Supersport race, Browne came out on top once again but this time he was kept honest throughout by Jordan. The duo broke away from the rest of the field and although Jordan was able to keep in touch with Browne, the 34-year-old was unable to find a way past. Browne won by 0.523s, with third going to Sweeney on his Yamaha, who only just held off Coward on the KTS Macadam Racing Triumph for third. Cummins (Burrows/RK Racing Ducati) and Manx rider Joe Yeardsley (Yamaha) were fifth and sixth respectively. Jordan wrapped up a double in the Supertwin class on the Jackson Racing Aprilia, beating Barry Furber (DC Autos Yamaha) by 9.7s in a damp race. Sean Brolly, who plies his trade in the Support classes, excelled to take third on his Aprilia on corrected time ahead of Sweeney after starting in the second group. Kevin Lavery from Dungannon won the Junior Support race with Brolly taking victory in the Senior Support race. The Lightweight race was won by Barry Davidson while Chris Meyer held off Nigel Moore for victory in the Moto3/125GP race. Andy Farrell won the Classic Superbike race by 11.9s from Sam West.
BBC News
6 days ago
- BBC News
Browne clinches four-timer at Armoy road races
Mike Browne secured a fabulous four-timer at this year's Armoy road races as he took victory in the feature 'Race of Legends' event, the Open race and both Supersport Republic of Ireland rider joins Michael Dunlop, Davey Todd and Ryan Farquhar as the only competitors to win four or more races at an individual Armoy races and also as the only riders to have enjoyed success in the main event of the Cork rider takes his overall tally of successes over the three-mile county Antrim circuit to eight with his quartet of wins in began his winning sequence by taking the honours in the opening Supersport race on Friday evening and added another success in the middleweight class on a thrilling battle at the front, the BPE by Russell Racing Yamaha rider edged out Paul Jordan by half a second, with Michael Sweeney a further 16 seconds adrift in had some consolation in setting the fastest lap at start of the Open race was delayed by rain showers but when the action did get under way, Browne mastered the damp conditions best to secure a comprehensive win aboard the Honda Fireblade he only rode for the first time at the Southern 100 in the Isle of Man earlier this the help of a best lap of 101.012mph, Browne had almost nine seconds to spare over Sweeney at the finishing line, with Jordan in third having opted to take out his Supersport machine in preference to his 1000cc Jackson Racing was again ultimately dominant in the 'Race of Legends', overhauling early leader Jordan on lap three and increasing his advantage consistently thereafter, aided by the standout lap of the race at 106.898 on lap winning margin over runner-up Jordan was 4.3 seconds, as Sweeney completed the podium spots and Conor Cummins, Jamie Coward and Phil Crowe rounded out the top added to his Supertwins victory on Friday by making it a double in that category on his Aprilia on two wins made it five overall for the Magherafelt man at Armoy and his consistency across all classes led to him being awarded the man-of-the-meeting never looked like being denied in Saturday's Twins outing and enjoyed a cushion of nearly 10 seconds over second-placed man Barry Furber at the Brolly just got the better of Sweeney in the contest for third, his podium position being confirmed on adjusted time as he was part of the second wave of other race winners were Andy Farrell in the Classic Superbike, Barry Davidson in Lightweight Supersport, Lee Osprey in Supersport 300, Andy Hornby in Senior Classic, Nigel Moore in Junior Classic, Kevin Lavery in Junior Support, Sean Brolly in Senior Support and Chris Meyer in Moto3/125cc. Armoy race results Race of Legends - 1Mike Browne; 2 Paul Jordan; 3 Michael Sweeney; 4 Conor Cummins; 5 Jamie Coward; 6 Phil CroweFastest lap - Browne 106.898mphOpen race - 1 Mike Browne; 2 Michael Sweeney; 3 Paul Jordan; 4 Jamie Coward; 5 Neil Kernohan; 6 Conor CumminsFastest lap - Browne 101.012mphSupersport race two - 1 Mike Browne; 2 Paul Jordan; 3 Michael Sweeney; 4 Jamie Coward; 5 Conor Cummins; 6 Joe YeardsleyFastest lap - Jordan 104.932mphSupertwin race two - 1 Paul Jordan; 2 Barry Furber; 3 Sean Brolly; 4 Michael Sweeney; 5 Dean McMaster; 6 Joey ThompsonFastest lap - Jordan 93.542mph
