They don’t always give awards for gallantry in the face of adversity. Overcoming testicular cancer was award enough for 32-year-old Drogheda United striker Gary O’Neill. But on Tuesday the Dubliner was rewarded for his performances for an invigorated Drogheda side, under new manager Robbie Horgan.
12 points from 18 has seen Horgan seamlessly find his stride after stepping up from assistant manager under Mick Cooke. Two goals from O’Neill have aided the transition, both scored in a trip to Dalymount park, the second on the crest of the final whistle.
And on the crest of a promotion play-off spot in the English Championship is Mick McCarthy’s Ipswich side. He had Waterford’s Daryl Murphy to thank for cementing Tuesday evening’s victory away to Huddersfield. The quiet front man poked home to ensure a 2-0 victory.
Ipswich are now part of a triumvirate of sides on 61 points, only two points behind free falling Reading in sixth place. Bournemouth and Brighton make up the hunting pack and it was another Irish fringe player who set a 4-1 win for Brighton in motion over already promoted Leicester City, when Stephen Ward scored with an early header for the side once managed by Liam Brady.
Bournemouth, unfashionable maybe, have their own Irish stalwart at left back. Ian Harte was part of the Bournemouth defence in their own Tuesday night victory over Reading. Harte is the definition of reawakened careers. Everytime he has appeared to be petering from our collective consciousness, he re-emerges. Don’t rule out one last return to the Premier League with Eddie Howe’s side, at 37.
David Connolly misses from the spot in the penalty shoot-out against Spain ©INPHO/Tom Honan
Another former Irish international due to turn 37 this summer is former Sunderland striker David Connolly. Connolly’s record with Ireland (9 in 41) is overshadowed somewhat by the oft negative reaction to Mick McCarthy’s perennial faith in his squad inclusion for Ireland and for his penalty save from Iker Casillias in the 2002 World Cup second round game where Ireland dared to dream and Swedish Referee Anders Frisk dared to award two penalties in normal time. One of them missed by Harte.
On Connolly, he is currently on loan from Portsmouth to to Oxford United. Both sides in the English second division, Oxford though having the stronger season. They did however, drop out of the top six this season for the first time last Saturday when they lost at home to Fleetwood Town. It was Connolly who had the only real goal scoring opportunity for his side when a clever shot on the turn was saved.
Quickly forgotten, but Connolly played a significant part in Southampton’s resurgence and ultimate return to the Premier League in 2012. One Irishman who almost certainly will be making the jump to the Premier League is Irish goalkeeper Conrad Logan.The Donegal man was on the bench as he watched Kasper Schmeichel concede four times. The 27-year-old has remained off the radar for the Irish set up, despite 13 years with the club, albeit filled with a litany of loan moves. The former Swilly Rover shot stopper though, still has the best part of a decade to create an opportunity for himself at international level.
Another goalkeeper looking to be part of a promotion winning side is Shelbourne goalkeeper Greg Murray. Brought in by Johnny McDonnell in January, Murray has proved an essential asset to the First Division league leaders; no more so last weekend when Friday night’s 2-0 win at Tolka Park could have easily swung away from them. With the home side a goal to the good, a foul on Finn Harps Damien McNulty saw a lifeline and a penalty awarded to the visitors. Up stepped Michael Funston but Murray was equal to the task, saving with his feet.
It was Johnny McDonnell’s old mentor, Brian Kerr who continued his excellent punditry midweek, this time for TV3 in their coverage of Chelsea’s dramatic Champions League Quarter Final victory over Paris St- Germain. His wingman was winger Damien Duff, a regular under Kerr both at underage and senior level with the Republic of Ireland.
Duff has caught the imagination with a mooted return to the League of Ireland. But he caught the audience by surprise when asked on whether Chelsea should have been awarded a penalty for a challenge on Andre Schurrle, replying "I’m probably the wrong man to answer because I like a little dive myself but by the letter of the law it’s probably a yellow isn’t it?"
It was unlikely the shy but wry Duff was being serious. Duff will be turning 36 by the time the 2015 League of Ireland season is starting. If he is wholehearted in his aim with regards to a return, that doesn’t appear the most irrational time to do so.
