David Passmore has made three changes and two additions to the Irish men's squad from the Setanta squad for this weekend's Celtic Cup in Garryduff as Phelie Maguire, Graham Shaw, Mark Gleghorne and Iain Lewers join Mark Black on the rested list. Johnny Jackson, meanwhile, is omitted from the official team listing.
There are returns to the national squad for Conor Harte - back after three months out with a shoulder injury - and Adam Pritchard. Cookstown's David Ames is in line for a debut having been involved in the Setanta training panel while Jonny Quigley could finally get a cap after a number of years on the fringes.
Youngsters Alan Sothern and Mitch Darling retain their places in what Passmore describes as “an exciting young group" He adds that "with several inclusions from the Ireland A squad the group are all very keen to put on a good showing on home soil and build on the performances from the Setanta Sports Trophy”
Celtic Cup squad: David Ames (Cookstown), Karl Burns (Cork C of I), Stephen Butler (Glenanne), Tim Cockram (Lisnagarvey), Mitch Darling (Three Rock Rovers), Ronan Gormley (Pembroke Wanderers) (Captain), Conor Harte (Pembroke Wanderers), David Harte (GK) (Pembroke Wanderers), David Hobbs (Cork C of I) (Vice Capt), John Jermyn (Cork C of I), Tim Lewis (Pembroke Wanderers), Eugene Magee (Banbridge), Geoff McCabe (Banbridge), Adam Pritchard (Cork C of I), Johnny Quigley (Annadale), Alan Sothern (Pembroke Wanderers), Iain Walker (GK) (YMCA), Mikey Watt (Grange , Scotland)
Rested Players
Mark Black; Mark Gleghorne; Iain Lewers; Phelie Maguire; Andy McConnell; Graham Shaw.
Schedule:
Friday (14.00) Scotland v Wales; (20.00) Ireland v France
Saturday (13.00) France v Wales; (17.00) Ireland v Scotland
Sunday (11.30) France v Scotland; (15.30) Wales v Ireland
Interpro heroics mask structural deficiencies
6 years ago
21 comments:
Can't believe Joe Brennan hasn't got in and I don't play for Glens. He's better than Karl Burns
Completely agree, Joe is class! Joe for King!!!!!
No way can't agree with that! Joe is too old at this stage. Someone like Neil Lyons would be better than Joe.
joe doesnt want to play for ireland
Lets not get too excited here, Joe is a very good club player but not an international hockey player. Suprised at the selection of Pritchard not too sure how good he is!
Having been on the same team as Joe I can honestly say he is quality. By far the best center back in the europeans. True hes 26 now but why should stand in the way of him getting a cap?Obviously your not going to pick a player 29ish onwards but age should not be an issue when it comes to 25, 26 so on. Theres plenty of players that passmore wont pick in that age bracket and I'm all for the youth but surely thats what the development squad is for.He deserves to be in that squad and is unlucky not too
I think Joe is part of a vintage of players overlooked at international level. A whole load of guys who played in the last days of the under 21s never got call ups whatsoever or more than a couple of caps like maybe Alan Giles, Mikey Harte and Peter McConnell. While they may not be regular full international material, they are of the same kind of quality that now gets a cap (like Pitchard) as reward for a few games on the Irl A side.
Here's the Ireland U21 team that competed in the Junior World Cup, Hobart, Australia, 2001:
M. Ruddle,
K. Burns,
D. Eakins,
A. Giles,
M. Harte,
D. Hobbs,
J. Hobbs,
J. Jermyn,
A. Kershaw,
P. McConnell,
P. Smith,
N. Slane,
I. Allen,
S. Irvine,
J. Quigley,
S. Syminton,
S. Nicholson,
J. Brennan.
Putting Ames in the squad was a bad decision for me. All the players on the junior celtic cup squad were told a good performance would give them a chance. Ames picks up a very unfortunate injury - a pity cosidering the impact he could have made on the tournament - but still gets in ahead of others who played well throughout the weekend. Sends the wrong message for me
Pritchard Irish material?Oh dear.
What's happened to Sean Nicholson?
Think he's away travelling
Joe Brennan is the best centre back in the country after Lewers.
Lyons; not international....cant hit, can't slap a defense splitting pass like joe can, can't throw an overhead. Despite that very harsh critique he is very good player, superp at tackling and highly mobile but just needs to work on his distribution. He can do it though as he is still young...he has the talent.
Horsefield is worth a look, his distribution and ball speed are as good as anybodies, he's mobile and can tackle. Can he throw an overhead? Pritchard selection worries me. Ames is not good enough either...a few strange ones.
Delighted to see Mitch get a call up. I would have to agree that Joe is better than Karl Burns, he's also better than Geoff McCabe (who plays at the back sometimes.)Andy McConnell should get a look in ahead of McCabe. Watt....perhaps lucky.. Southern may be better.
Although the above may seem harsh it is just one oppinion from somebody hiding behind a computer!!!!
Andy mcconnell has been rested!
Joe Brennan isnt anywhere good enough for international hockey- dont care how good he is for his club...international hockey is a different story
Sothern ahead of mikey watt- You must be jokin me, mikeys class
horsefield - not a chance,brennan - same as,mcconnell - decent player but nowhere near as good as mccabe, international hockey is a much different game than club and passmore picked the squad most able to play at this level, watt is a top player and has shown this in previous games for his country,both darling and sothern are going to be top international players and will score plenty of goals along the way,those three will lead the line for ireland for years to come..
word has it sean nicholson is returning from travelling and one would hope that he is also returning to the irish set-up..
disappointingly, ireland seem to be bereft of quality defenders at the moment..
joe brennan i'm afraid will not get a look in which is unfortunate but not without it's merits.
at the same time arguing that he should get in ahead of pritchard or mccabe is silly as every case is different at the moment with irelands lack of top class competition until the nations trophy i believe to be their next serious competition.
personally, i think burns has let himself down recently and mccabe and jackson though competent, lack the tactical cohesion and leadership required for the level..
so a back four of Gormley, Lewis, Harte and Nicholson to take us into the next era of irish hockey??
" ireland seem to be bereft of quality defenders at the moment."
while we are struggling with the loss of Paddy Brown and Jason Black, Gormley was brilliant again this weekend and Tim Lewis is very very good. Conor Harte can add another dimension to Ireland's game with his long, disguised passes (though he needs to be better taking down overheads). Burns had another shocker against Scotland but to say we have no quality defenders is wrong
If Harte steps up, maybe Lewers could move into centre mid which seems the real struggling point. Graham Shaw plays great against good teams but gives it away constantly against minor nations forcing us onto the back foot. A load of different options were tried out at the weekend (Hobbs, Butler, McCabe). Butler wasn't bad, Hobbs the same but McCabe is poor and does not have the ability at ths level. he's a huge amount of caps and wtill hasn't stepped up.
McConnell is far better than McCabe and to be fair he hasn't had a real go at international hockey. He has two or three caps but has struggled with injury since. Give him time he will be very good!!
my apologies i have great respect for the four defenders i named i.e the pembroke trio of gormley lewis and harte and also i feel sean nicholson will advance into the setuo with i would hope consummate ease..
i meant bereft of young quality defenders to bring into the squad with stability.
all this messing with lewers at the back, etc in my opinion is not worthwhile in te long run.
lewers in midfield is something that has to be done.
that will allow great competition between the likes of shaw, hobbs, jermyn, maguire and butler for the remaining midfield berths.
hard to see butler outmuscling jermyn though...
What about butler at the back with lewers in mid field?
I dont understand how Ames can get in ahead of Neil Hamilton, he has consistently shown how good he is at all levels of international play. He has better distribution than most players up at international level at the moment without question. He is also a complete athlete. I've played with him for many years and I find it hard to find someone who has played with him that doubts his abilities.
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