This will be William O’Connor’s second away fixture on the bounce and he’ll be hoping to start the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations early with a valuable win away from home in Kenilworth Stadium to make it two wins from two.
O’Connor has made one change to the Irish set up with Balbriggan pupil Lido Lofeta making way for Grennan College player Colm Whelan for this encounter.
The English will be relishing this game havin won in Dublin last year with a comprehensive second half display to come from 2-0 down to win out 5-2. The victory ensured a share of the spoils with Northern Ireland last season and the English will be hoping to replicate such success again.
England’s preparations for the Centenary Shield have gone exceptionally well. The crew travelled to Valencia for their warm weather training a fortnight ago. A full week of training with two friendly games in the mix proved very productive. England overcame Valencia and Levante 2-1 on both outings.
A number of the Republic of Ireland outfit will be looking to improve their record against their opponents as James Carroll (St. Oliver’s Community College, Drogheda), Darryl Walsh (St. Declan’s Community College) who captained the Irish that evening, Ronan Manning (formerly of Calasanctius College, Oranmore and currently of Yeats College) and Jack Ryan (Templeogue College) all featured that evening in a frustrating night for Paddy O’Reilly’s charges.
Following the England encounter, O’Connor’s side will be out again on March 29 in Monaghan United FC as they take on their Northern counterparts in their penultimate fixture. The Irish will then entertain Scotland in their final game of the season when they face the Tartan Army on April 12 in Home Farm FC, Whitehall. Both home games have a 2pm kick off.
Republic of Ireland Select: Daniel Houghton & Kieran Farren (Carndonagh Community School), Adam O’Connor (St. Clare’s College, Ballyjamesduff), James Carroll (St. Oliver’s Community College, Drogheda), Luke McNicholas (Balla Secondary School), Darryl Walsh (St. Declan’s Community College), Ronan Manning & Adam Rooney (Yeats College, Galway), Liam Kerrigan (St. Attracta’s CS, Tubbercurry), Cian Lee (Boyne Community School), Peter Adigun (Riversdale Community College), Ali Regbha (Chanel College, Coolock),Jack Ryan (Templeogue College), Jake Walker (St. Kevin’s Community College, Clondalkin) Colm Whelan (Grennan College, Thomastown), Rory Doyle (St. Francis College, Rochestown), Cian Murphy (Coláiste Dun Iascaigh, Cahir), Adam Conway (De La Salle College, Waterford)