Will Smallbone

SETU Carlow has a chance of retribution tonight when they take on Ulster University in the Electric Ireland Freshers 2 Hurling Championship final.

So massive congratulations to everyone involved. pats Maghera yesterday in Louth. Throw in at Abbotstown is 4 o’clock.

Will Smallbone hopes he has given Stephen Kenny a selection headache for Monday's face-off with France after a superb debut for the Republic of Ireland.

"My mum and my girlfriend were over for the game. "It's a moment I’ve been wanting to happen for so long and for it to be here and to go the way it has was very special." I’d love to be involved in it, whatever way that is."

The home team struggled after a fast start against the Eastern Europeans but Smallbone was named man of the match on his senior debut, Ferguson scored after 17 ...

“We got caught with a pass inside and got punished with an unbelievable goal. I felt our passing was quite good in the first-half and we had penetration in all our play. “That was difficult to accept because we had chances to go three up and we didn’t take them. So we looked very good for periods and then we went in two-all at half-time. “Mikey, that was a snapshot of what Mikey can be. “Evan, it’s his first start and he got a goal.

But as Stephen Kenny has discovered, international football is about the here and now. Whatever qualifying campaign is next. Soft words about building for ...

And perhaps, they did glimpse, at times, the promise of a brighter future. And Smallbone looks to the manor born in international football. Two more strikes from outside the box found their way into the Irish net in the first half, and had a deflating effect on the Irish team. However, at least with the likes of Ferguson and Smallbone, there is more belief that they will score. For 33 minutes last night, the future didn't just seem beautiful but there was a feeling that the present can be bright, too. Evan Ferguson was making his first start, and a first goal seemed inevitable against a team ranked 133rd in the world.

Will Smallbone is on loan at Stoke City from Southampton until the end of the season.

He was someone that was in squads and was developing physically. But his development was derailed by an anterior cruciate ligament injury in 2021 and he was diagnosed with alopecia during his recovery. His ability to cover ground as well, you don’t associate that with him because he looks a languid type of player with a range of passing. We’ll have to review stuff and things like that. The midfielder, on loan at [Stoke City](https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/all-about/stoke-city-fc) from Southampton, is being rewarded for his form particularly over the last few weeks - and his reputation is growing in more than one dimension. Kenny said: “We think of Will as a natural playmaker, he’s an intelligent footballer with a range of passing but what we don’t probably recognise with Will is his running stats.

Evan Ferguson became Republic of Irelands youngest goalscorer since Robbie Keane in October 1998 when he was on the scoresheet against Latvia in Wednesdays ...

"He is a fantastic striker, his quality is to score goals. "We're so lucky to have a young player like that coming through playing at the highest level and he's only getting better. After his double against Grimsby, the Italian added: "Ferguson is a special striker. The Paris Saint-Germain forward has become France's biggest star having been part of the World Cup-winning team in 2018 as a teenager. "I have only worked with him for a few weeks but is clear to see his potential. The players are going to have to learn to play with Ferguson as he is a real talent. Ireland have been short of a big star name in recent years, thinking all the way back to the days of Robbie Keane and Roy Keane. He told me not to do anything different to what I do back at Brighton and to just take it in. After scoring against Latvia, Ferguson said: "Scoring at home in front of your family, I don't think there's a better feeling. Manchester United and Liverpool used to have several players from Republic of Ireland but that hasn't happened in recent years. He played three minutes against Norway and he was relatively unknown in the Premier League at the time. He then played a few more minutes against Malta a couple of days later, but now he has to start.