Irish soccer players invited to join group ‘owed billions' over contract and transfer rules
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Irish Examiner
7 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Tralee girls shine but Ireland fall just short again Scots
Ireland Girls' captain Brenda Craig acknowledged a heroic from her players while the combined side fell just short against Scotland on the opening day of the R&A Boys' & Girls' Home Internationals in Cork. England lead the overall and Girls' standings following their comprehensive 13-8 victory over Wales, as Scotland defeated the hosts 11-10. However, Ireland are just one game point shy of the English in the Girls' standings, before they renew rivalries tomorrow. The combined Irish side had made a fast start and took a 4-3 lead after the morning foursomes against Scotland. Hannah Lee-McNamara and Zoe McLean-Tattan, Kate Dillon and Róisín Scanlon, and Tralee pair Lucy Grattan and Ella Moynihan all won their matches for a clean sweep for the Girls. Caelan Coleman and Harry O'Hara combined for an important point for the Boys. Scanlon and Dillon both won their singles matches in the afternoon and despite further wins for Isaac Oliver, William O'Riordan and John William Burke, Ireland came up just short. 'A little bit disappointed with the overall result but we still got 10 points which is a good start for everybody for the week,' said Craig. 'The girls had a really good day, three great wins in the foursomes this morning followed up with two wins and two halves this afternoon, so we won our Girls' section 6-3, absolutely delighted and looking forward now to England tomorrow. 'We would have preferred to keep the English game until Thursday but we have to play them at some stage so really looking forward to it. 'We beat them in the Girls' match in the Home Internationals last year, we beat them not so long ago in the quarter-finals of the Europeans, so looking forward to another great match tomorrow. First match out so the girls will be going out fresh and looking forward to it. 'Three new girls in and the two Tralee girls getting a super win this morning, and Ella Cantwell getting an absolutely fabulous half this afternoon, so our experienced girls and the new girls are mixing and blending really well. 'There's a long way to go and hopefully we're chatting tomorrow afternoon and I have another smile on my face.' England also impressed against Wales on Tuesday. Charlotte Naughton and Annabel Peaford were part of a 7&6 win, there were three 4&3 results in their favour too as England took a 5-2 lead from the morning foursomes. Naughton had another big 7&6 win in the afternoon, with Alex Boyes (6&5) and Aaron Moody (8&7) also shining. 'We had a really good start in the foursomes, so that's always good to get a couple of points on the board because that's always difficult,' said England captain India Clyburn. 'This afternoon in the singles, we had some good battles out there, hard-fought matches to the end, and some good comebacks from the matches that we did lose, but all really good.'
Irish Times
7 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Shelbourne boss Joey O'Brien targets victory in Croatia despite admitting ‘monster task' awaits
Europa League 3rd qualifying round, 1st leg: Rijeka (Croatia) v Shelbourne, Stadion Rujevica, Rijeka, 7.45pm – Live on Solid Sport (streaming) From Belfast to Baku and now the picturesque Croatian port town of Rijeka, these past six weeks have been a whirlwind experience for Shelbourne and Joey O'Brien . At least the new manager has got a firm handle on his media duties. 'This is going to be a monster game,' said O'Brien before the League of Ireland champions face a side that, on paper, is 10 times more valuable than his evolving squad. 'A monster task,' he repeated before the Shelbourne players trained on Tuesday night in 27-degree heat. '[Rijeka] were unlucky not to beat Ludogorets [last week], having two men sent off. I thought they were the better team. They were unlucky. They are a serious side, but we'll set up to win the game, like we always do.' READ MORE Ludogorets, Bulgaria's European specialists, needed extra-time last Wednesday to eliminate a rusty Rijeka from the Champions League. That defeat happened three days before Radomir Djalovic's men opened their defence of the Croatian title against Slaven Belupo, winning 2-0. Shels also beat Sligo Rovers 2-0 at the Showgrounds on Saturday as new signings Seán Moore and Milan Mbeng made their debuts. The high drama that put Ludogorets into a Champions League showdown against Hungary's Ferencvaros, managed by Robbie Keane, came at a cost to Rijeka as they drop into the Europa League without suspended pair Toni Fruk and Gabriel Rukavina. [ Shelbourne and Linfield could meet again in Conference League playoff with €4m at stake Opens in new window ] O'Brien might recall his recently hamstrung goalkeeper Conor Kearns instead of new Dutch signing Wessel Speel. 'Goalkeepers don't really need to run that quick, so he is not too bad,' he said. Shels were close to full strength against Sligo, as they remain three points off a European spot for next season with 10 matches to play. Turns out, O'Brien knows what he is doing, having revived the club's on-pitch displays since Damien Duff resigned on June 22nd. Conor Kearns could be back in goal for Shelbourne against Rijeka. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho Besides the concession of two gut-punch, late goals to Azerbaijan's Qarabag in a 3-0 Champions League loss at Tolka Park on July 23rd, followed by a respectable 1-0 defeat in Baku, Shels are unbeaten under O'Brien in the other seven games. If they somehow find a way past Rijeka, with the second leg at Tolka next Tuesday, the winner from Greek side PAOK and Wolfsberger of Austria await in the Europa League playoff. The winners of the playoff reach the group stage. The likelier scenario is a return to Windsor Park against Linfield as David Healy's NIFL Premiership champions are expected to set up a Uefa Conference League playoff against Shels by beating Vikingur from the Faroe Islands. The winner of the playoff is guaranteed €4 million in Uefa prize money. O'Brien would not be drawn on the potential for the club's ownership to recoup three years of investment, after accumulating seven-figure losses since the Duff project was launched in 2022. Talking about the task at hand, he said: 'I said it to the lads, 'I hate Plan Bs'. We are not thinking about Plan B. This is what it is about for us: tomorrow's game. You start thinking about Plan B, you take your eye off the ball and you play safe. 'No. This is the game we want to attack. This is the tie we want to win.' A notably professional performance against Qarabag last week, despite the second-leg being effectively a dead rubber, indicates that O'Brien's instructions are being executed on the pitch. That was the crux of Duff's frustrations in the days leading up to his resignation. The former manager had started to question the commitment of some in the Shelbourne dressingroom. The players, to a man, appear more switched on since. The test of European football against superior opposition appears to have turned Shelbourne's season around. Mipo Odubeko could add more than his eight goals in 20 appearances as the season enters the home straight. The arrival of current Ireland under-21s, Moore from West Ham and Jack Henry-Francis from Arsenal, potentially brings the quality needed to thrive in the Conference League group stages. In the meantime, Kerr McInroy and Evan Caffrey must continue their inspirational seasons in red. 'Irish teams, our record in Europe away from home against stronger teams and stronger countries over the years is not very good,' O'Brien added. 'It is going to be a monster task. But it is a task we want and we are going to embrace. We are going to put our best foot forward and try and get a result.'
Sunday World
11 minutes ago
- Sunday World
Episode 1121: The Yank - My Life as a Former US Marine in the IRA (extract)
Listen to an extract from the memoir of John Crawley In April 1975, a young Irish-American from Long Island headed on a mission to enlist in an elite unit of the US Marine Corps. His goal: to receive the most intensive and rigorous military training possible, and then move to Ireland to join the IRA and fight to end British occupation of the north. John Crawley has lived an extraordinary life – working with notorious American mobster James 'Whitey' Bulger before working with the IRA in an attempt to knock out England's power supply in a bomb plot gone wrong. Here's an extract from his memoir The Yank: My Life as a Former US Marine in the IRA, published by Merrion Press. MORE EPISODES
