Cliftonville ace on why Irish League sides can't be counted out in Euro clashes with southern rivals
Cliftonville ace Conor Pepper believes top League of Ireland teams are a class apart but Northern Ireland sides can take them down in Europe.
Pepper and his Solitude team-mates will wrestle with Shamrock Rovers if they can see off St Joseph's of Gibraltar in the first round of Uefa Conference League qualifying.
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BBC News
18 hours ago
- BBC News
Cliftonville 'deserved' to win League Cup
Cliftonville midfielder Marissa Callaghan said she felt "immense pride" in the Reds' 4-2 comeback win against Glentoran in the Women's League Cup Reds trailed 2-0 at half-time after Emily Wilson's well-taken double, but they scored four times in the second half to win the trophy for a third successive netted the third by heading beyond Ashleigh McKinnon and praised her side's stunning second half display."I thought we came out and completely dominated the second half," she told BBC Sport NI."First half, we lost ourselves a little bit, we were nervous and lacked a bit of awareness in the game. Fair play to Glentoran, they did well to get their two goals, but what a second half from us, every player gave everything, and we left everything on the pitch and deserved to win in the end."The former Northern Ireland captain said an honest half-time team talk and a tactical switch of position for forward Naomi McLaughlin were the catalysts for change in the second half."Half-time there were words, it was not the first half we wanted but we're a group of winners, we know how to win a game, and the coaches changed it with Naomi coming inside and she changed the game for us, she set up three of the four goals, " Callaghan added."It was nice to score what I thought was the winner at the time, there is no better feeling than scoring in a cup final."
BBC News
19 hours ago
- BBC News
Reds fight back to beat Glens and retain League Cup
Cliftonville fought back from two goals down to beat Glentoran 4-2 as they clinched a record-breaking third successive Women's League Wilson netted early in the first half before finding the net once again on 33 minutes to give Glentoran a comfortable 2-0 lead at the Cliftonville responded in the second half with Caitlin McGuinness scoring two goals in quick succession with Marissa Callaghan putting the Reds in-front and Carla Devine netting deep into stoppage victory means that Cliftonville become the first team to lift the League Cup trophy in three consecutive seasons. Glens dominate first half Glentoran took an early lead after just four minutes when Wilson capitalised of a mix-up between Orleigha McGuinness and Fi Morgan and travelled into the box before sending a low effort into the bottom right-hand struggled to create many goalscoring chances with Orleigha McGuinness' header from a Kirsty McGuinness free-kick denied by Ashleigh McKinnon and Aimee Kerr on hand to clear Marissa Callaghan's Northern Ireland manager Tanya Oxtoby watching on, striker Wilson grabbed her second of the afternoon and doubled the Glens' advantage just after the forward controlled Demi Vance's through ball and fired a strong effort past Rachael Norney. Cliftonville complete impressive comeback The Reds started the second half with intent and were denied by the woodwork in the opening two minutes when Teegan Lynch's effort struck the crossbar after Glentoran's defence failed to clear Kirsty McGuinness' early pressure would pay off though as Caitlin McGuinness' first time strike from Naomi McLaughlin's cross found the bottom corner in the 48th stand-in captain then levelled the game on 62 minutes when she linked up with McLaughlin once again, this time to nod home her in-swinging corner at the near a tale of two halves, Cliftonville then looked the more dangerous with Glentoran struggling to break into the final Reds would complete the comeback with McLaughlin's free-kick nodded on by Morgan into the path of Callaghan at the back post and she headed went from bad to worse for the Glens with Kascie Weir shown a straight red card for a foul on Morgan in additional Reds weren't done there and sealed the win on 94 minutes when McLaughlin bursts into the box and squared the ball for the unmarked substitute Devine to steer home.
Glasgow Times
2 days ago
- Glasgow Times
Djurgarden boss on Celtic-linked Keita Kosugi speculation
Celtic was reportedly interested in the Japanese defender at the end of last month. With Greg Taylor on the brink of joining Greek team PAOK, Brendan Rodgers needs back-up for the returning Kieran Tierney, and Kosugi could be a potential option. Jani Honkavaara, the manager of the Swedish top-flight side, said [Sportbladet via RecordSport]: "There have been rumours all along. Read more: "When we had a good season in Europe, there was a lot of interest. "He's a good player and if we lose him we have to find a replacement. "We've sold for quite a lot of money. "I hope we can spend some money too." The 19-year-old helped Djurgården reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Conference League last season, where they were ultimately defeated by Chelsea. He has established himself as a regular with Djurgarden, who currently sit ninth in the Allsvenskan, 12 games into the 2025 campaign. Kosugi's move to Sweden was just over a year ago.
