Thanks Robbie.

A lot of people have been sharing their memories of Robbie Keane in an Ireland jersey, and one that pops up again and again is the last minute equaliser against Germany in the group stages of the World Cup in Japan in 2002.
Tales range from Leaving Cert papers being sat, to celebrations in pubs across Ireland, to being in the stadium itself to witness the finish.
My own memory of that finish is a little longer than 140 characters. I had finished a graduate diploma in Computer Engineering in UL, and, having graduated with a degree that had no jobs following the dot-com bubble bursting, was working in what was the Limerick Inn hotel on the Ennis Road with my father.
The hotel had been sold recently to the Radisson-SAS group and was being completely renovated. Everything was being torn out, every room renovated, every piece of furniture replaced.
Management were well aware the game was on, and that plans had been discussed between the workers on where to go to watch it, so a bargain was struck. The televisions from the hotel were being kept on site in storage, possibly the only decorations from the original hotel layout that were going to be reused, and a signal was still being received in the building. If we could get a TV set up in one of the bigger rooms, then they would allow us time off to watch the game, and provide soft drinks and finger food.
My dad had the key for storage, and we recruited a Polish worker to help us move the largest TV onto a hastily put together shelf in the corner of the room. Incidentally that shelf was probably the fastest job completed during the renovation!
With the TV working, and Bill and the lads providing the build up, some rolled up carpets were brought into the room so we'd have somewhere to sit, and as promised, the tables lining the edges of the room were piled high with sausages, chicken wings, sandwiches, bottles of coke, 7up, etc.
I don't remember much about the game itself, apart from the two goals. We had conceded early in the first game against Cameroon, and didn't want to repeat the mistake against the Germans, but a miscommunication between Staunton and Harte left Klose with space to plant a header beyond Given. At the time, I had thought it was Staunton's fault, but in the analysis Dunphy pointed out Staunton pointing at Klose to Harte, indicating he was the man for the full back to cover.
I genuinely don't remember anything of the rest of the game, apart from a feeling that we were never out of the tie, but were missing something up front to get a result.
At the 90 minute mark, I was looking into my safety helmet, wondering how I'd have the motivation to go back to work and finish what I had left for the rest of the day.
In my mind's eye, I can still recall looking back up at the screen just in time to see the ball leaving Finnan's boot, being flicked on by Quinn and Keane making half an inch of space for himself, and that's all he needed.
Queue chaos in the room. Food, drink, all being flung around in celebration of the goal. Suddenly I felt I'd be able to go back to work.




Thanks Robbie.

Round Up - Weekend of 27th August 2016

Saturday, 27 August 2016
Today was the first time that two Irish players scored an own goal on the same day since January

Premier League

Crystal Palace 1-1 Bournemouth
Damien Delaney was booked for the first time this season

Everton 1-0 Stoke City
Shay Given's own goal this against Everton was the goalkeeper's first OG since October 2007

Hull City 0-1 Manchester United
David Meyler was booked for the first time since October 2015

Championship

Barnsley 4-0 Rotherham
Aidan White made his 25th appearance for Barnsley

Blackburn 0-1 Fulham
After signing for Blackburn on Friday, both Tommie Hoban and Derrick Williams made their first appearances for the Lancashire side

Newcastle Utd 2-0 Brighton and Hove Albion
Having signed for Brighton on Friday, Shane Duffy went straight into the starting XI for the Seagulls against Newcastle

League 1

Bradford City 1-1 Oldham
Billy Clarke's second half penalty was his 20th goal for Bradford

Chesterfield 1-3 Millwall
Shaun Williams was booked for the first time since February 2016

Coventry 1-1 Northampton
Despite the season only being a month old, John-Joe O'Toole picked up his fifth booking in this game

Port Vale 3-1 Scunthorpe
Paddy Madden came off the bench to make his first appearance for Scunthorpe this season

Rochdale 1-1 AFC Wimbledon
Donal McDermott made his 50th appearance for Rochdale

Walsall 3-3 Bury
After signing a new contract with Aston Villa this week, Kevin Toner went out on loan to Walsall and made his first appearance this season for his new club

League 2

Accrington Stanley 2-3 Morecambe
John O'Sullivan was booked for the first time this season

Crawley 1-3 Notts County
James Collins had the misfortune of scoring the first own goal of his career in this game

Scottish Premier League
Inverness CT 2-1 St Johnstone
Joe Shaughnessy made his 50th start for St Johnstone

Celtic 4-1 Aberdeen
Adam Rooney's goal against Celtic was the Aberdeen striker's first goal in more than a month

Scottish First Division

Falkirk 1-0 Dumbarton
Danny Rogers made his 50th appearance for Falkirk

Round Up - Week of 23rd August 2016

Tuesday, 23 August 2016

English League Cup

Watford 1-2 Gillingham
Tommy Hoban's start for Watford was the defender's first appearance since April 2015
Mark Byrne scored his first goal for Gillingham, this was the defender's first goal since January

Everton 4-0 Yeovil
Darron Gibson made his first appearance of the season
Kevin Dawson made his 100th appearance for Yeovil

Millwall 1-2 Nottingham Forest
Having not scored since December 2015 until last Saturday, Shaun Williams has now scored in consecutive games for the first time since November 2013

Preston North End 2-0 Oldham
Eoin Doyle scored his fifth goal for Oldham

Northampton 2-2 West Bromwich Albion
Brendan Moloney marked his first appearance of the season with an assist
James McClean marked his first start of the season with his first goal since January

Stevenage 0-4 Stoke City
Jonathan Walters' first start of the season was also his 250th appearance for Stoke City

Reading 2-2 MK Dons
Congratulations to Liam Kelly on making his senior club debut!

Wednesday, 24 August 2016

English League Cup

Morecambe 1-2 Bournemouth
On his return to Bournemouth, Marc Wilson scored his first goal in almost six years in what was his first appearance at club level since January

Fulham 2-1 Middlesbrough
Sean Kavanagh was booked for the first time in almost a year, his last yellow card was in November 2015