Portugal U21s 2-1 N.Ireland U21s

[Predator]

I heard that Shane Duffy had been called up to the N.Ireland U21s, so taking an interest in how the young Derry man (and possible Republic player!) fared, I came across this clip of the goals.

I didn't see the game, but I read a few reports which indicated a spirited performance from N.Ireland and from the video, it looks like Duffy took the penalty well. That shows a lot of confidence, considering he's only 17.

Former Stute man, Philip Lowry was also in the squad. Did any of you see the game?

Also, am I right in saying that there were quite a few English born players in that team?

[EalingGreen]

I heard that Shane Duffy had been called up to the N.Ireland U21s, so taking an interest in how the young Derry man (and possible Republic player!) fared, I came across this clip of the goals.

I didn't see the game, but I read a few reports which indicated a spirited performance from N.Ireland and from the video, it looks like Duffy took the penalty well. That shows a lot of confidence, considering he's only 17.

Former Stute man, Philip Lowry was also in the squad. Did any of you see the game?

Also, am I right in saying that there were quite a few English born players in that team?

Cheers for the clip, Predator.

Nigel Worthington has installed an English guy called Steve Beaglehole (also Head of Leicester City's Academy) to take charge of teams from U-21 down, and he has been absolutely brilliant. The whole scouting and youth development set-up is now unrecognisable from what it was under his predecessor Roy Millar (our Don Givens ).

Amongst other things, he and Nigel have got many young Derry lads playing for us who might formerly have been playing for ROI - most notably Duffy, but also Eunan O'Kane and Shane Ferguson.

They have also tapped into the English-born "market", including from last night Oliver Norwood of Man U (fed up with the England set-up, looks now to have opted for us!) and Carl Magnay of Chelsea (we've been chasing him for months, he was holding out for England, and our patience may have been rewarded, since last night was his first acceptance of a call-up). Robin Shroot (Birmingham, on-loan at Burton) is another English-born player, who according to his (English) dad, loves the NI set-up.

Drogs fans will be interested in Scott Gibb. Tbh, he hasn't really impressed that much and didn't appear to make it in Scotland, but NW and Beaglehole appear to see something in him, which is good enough for me!

Anyhow, I watched the game live on Portugese TV - couldn't hear/understand the commentary. It was also in a bar, so this summary which I posted on another site should be read in that context!

Starting Line-Up was as follows:

1. GK - Sean O'Neill (B'mena)


2. RB & Captain - Chris Casement (Dundee)

5. CB - Sean Duffy (Everton)

6. CB - Johnny Flynn (B'burn)

3. LB - Carl Magnay (Chelsea)


7. RM - I think was Philip Lowry (Linfield)

4. CM - Corry Evans (MU)

8. CM - Robbie Garrett (Linfield)

11 LM - Shane Ferguson (Newcastle)


9. STR - Josh Magennis (Cardiff)

10. STR - Adam McGurk (Villa)

SUBS:
13. James Lawrie (Port Vale) for McGurk, (injury? fitness?) on 38 mins
14. Martin Donnelly (Crues) for Ferguson, HT - straight swap
15. Shroot (Loan to Burton) for Lowry (I think) and 17. Norwood (MU - must have been for Corry Evans?), both around the hour mark(?)
16. Scott Gibb (Drogheda) for Donnelly(!), late in 2nd half - I'm sure it was purely tactical, following Flynn's red card.
12.(?) - Trevor Carson (Sunderland) - no sign of him, from squad announced last week was the only unused sub.

Tbh, 2-1 was not a bad scoreline, considering we were on the back foot for a lot of the game. At one stage in the 1st half, the TV gave possession 75:25 in their favour, though it was 60:40 in 2nd half.

I thought the Portugese were the better passing team, but our midfield worked very hard to cover and our defence was very strong, especially in the air. We didn't have too much in the way of attacking for a good while, other than long punts up field where Magennis worked very hard, but was usually surrounded by red shirts (their biggest player and Captain was a CB, a bit of a giant).

That said, it was 0-0 at HT and we were holding out well. They got two goals just around the hour mark, but to be fair to our lads, they didn't crumble, even after Flynn's dismissal (2 yellows). And in the end, we came back at them, finishing strongly, with Duffy coolly converting an excellent penalty, after Lawrie was fouled (just!) in the box.

All told, I'd guess it was a good exercise to play against such quality players; Beaglehole has certainly got us organised and motivated (He's got a mighty 'bark' from the touchline on him!).

Individually, I'd say (insofar as TV allowed):

O'Neill - flapped a bit early on, either through nerves or the sun in his eyes (1st half), but ended up playing pretty well, with a couple of decent saves. No chance either goal. Promising.

Casement - Poor. Most of their attacks came down his side and he really struggled at times. Perhaps didn't get much support from Right Midfield (Lowry?). Rarely supported the attack. Good early free kick on goal, mind.

Duffy - He's a big unit, for sure! Some great headers out of defence and decent on the ground. Up against their best player (Yazalde?) - another big lad. If Duffy continues to develop, doesn't get too muscle-bound/slow, or opt for ROI, he'll potentially be a hell of a player! Good penalty-taker too, it seems.

Flynn - Did OK, with some good saving tackles early on, though didn't seem to maintain it? A bit unlucky with the sending-off. Technically, both were yellows for mistimed challenges, but the Referee might have showed some discretion, since it was a friendly, played in a good spirit.

Magnay. Our best player (imo). Very strong defender, who supported Ferguson/Donnelly in attack ever so well. Hugely impressive.

No.7 (Lowry?) - Looked a bit out of his depth, I'm afraid.

Evans - Did OK, kept busy, always competing/tackling, but few chances to be constructive. Possibly not best pleased at coming off?

Garrett - Excellent - best of our midfield, I'd say. Similar to Evans in style, but more effective (imo). Surely got to be too good for IL?

Ferguson - Played well down left. Quick and ever willing to run at his man. Combined v.well with Magnay

Magennis - Worked his socks off and for a big lad who was a keeper until recently, shows deft footwork on occasion. Bit unfair to judge him, though, since service was poor enough - forever chasing long balls.

McGurk - I didn't really notice him v.often. Might have been struggling for fitness (evening looked v.hot), hence early substitution.

Of the subs, Donnelly wasn't bad, unlucky to have to come off again. Shroot and Norwood had some nice touches, but it must have been a hard game to come on and get into. Lawrie didn't appear to make much impact, but gained the penalty and Gibb wasn't on for long.

[DmanDmythDledge]

What do you make of Evans EG? Many Man Utd fans are extremely confident that he will turn out a good bit better than Gibson.

[EalingGreen]

What do you make of Evans EG? Many Man Utd fans are extremely confident that he will turn out a good bit better than Gibson.

[Assume you mean Corry]
Tbh, I've not really heard them compare Corry Evans and Gibson, so can't really comment. From what I have seen myself, though, I can't rate Corry higher than Gibson.
He may be of similar quality when Gibson was his age (Corry was 19 a fortnight ago) but even then that would mean Corry has to keep on developing to catch up on Gibson - never certain in any youngster.

There is an English guy, NickOGS, who follows all MU's youngsters v.closely, who sometimes posts on OWC on the NI contingent. Here is what he said about Corry 6 months ago:

"First up, definitely can't agree with whoever said Corry will be a better player than his older brother is ever going to be. I've never seen anything from him to suggest that's the case - Jonny was a lot more impressive when he was 18, he was first choice in the reserves and you could tell at that point he was a real talent. Corry's not shown anything like that yet and has never massively impressed me to be honest - he had a decent year last season and captained the U18 side well but nothing I saw made me think I was watching a future star.

He's played centre-half more often than central midfield for us this season [2008-09] because he's too old for the U18s now and we have a crazy amount of central midfielders in the reserve setup. He played there (and in both full-back positions) on occasion in the U18s over the last two seasons and looked quite useful and to be fair to him, the 3/4 games he's played at centre-half this season have been the most impressive performances I've seen from him in a red shirt. He is a bit slight but he seems to read the game very well from that position (like his bro), doesn't shy away from the physical stuff and his background as a midfield player means he's confident bringing the ball out of defence and starting moves from the back. Whether it ends up being his long-term position I don't know, he's still very young after all, but it's another string to his bow and will maybe even add another dimension to his midfield play if that is where he ends up playing his football"

I'm loathe to question this guy's opinion, since he clearly knows his stuff and has no bias either way.

All I would say is that Corry has suffered from being compared with his older brother (The "Real Deal" if ever there was one!), which is a bit unfair imo.
Second, Corry has been playing midfield, not Centre Back, for NI's under-age teams, where he has done OK. On which point, the U-21's manager (Beaglehole) seems to rate him, and he knows all about young footballers.
Third, he seems to have a mature attitude, since he usually Captains whichever team he plays for, both at MU and NI.

It's always hard to judge young players, since even 6 months can make such a difference. I actually think Corry has come on well recently as a midfielder. And for what it's worth, he has got a 1st Team squad number at OT this season - even if it is No. 46!

Work in progress, I'd say. Perhaps he'll be a Philip Neville to Jonny's Gary, a Jack Charlton to Jonny's Bobby? Or in an NI context, a Jackie Blanchflower to Jonny's Danny?

Any of those would certainly do me!

P.S. I actually think Gibson made a bit of a breakthrough last season, from starting the season as a "MU Third XI" player to starting this season as a "MU Second XI" player. Of course, it's terribly hard to go all the way and make the final step, but Darren Fletcher and John O'Shea seem to have done it, so that should be Gibson's aim (imo).
And tbf, even if he doesn't make the step-up, there's no shame in being a second stringer at OT, since most of those would be first teamers at another club.
By the end of this season, I'd hope that Corry Evans has made it to the MU Third XI.