Gweedore native and Finn Harps player Marc Walsh has been selected in the Republic of Ireland Under-16 squad for a two international friendly matches next week.The talented Walsh made the move to Harps from Gweedore Celtic in 2016 and has been included in Paul Osam’s squad for next week’s games.
Ballinasloe Town’s Curragh Grounds will host a meeting between the sides on Tuesday evening (7pm) then Mervue United will host a second encounter on Thursday afternoon (12 noon).
The Irish U16 side won the Victory Shield in November with wins over Wales, Northern Ireland and hosts Scotland and Osam is looking for similar performances from his squad next week.
“It’s nice to be back together with the squad as outside of a friendly against Jason Donohue’s U15s and a Christmas session we have not had much opportunity to work with the players since the Victory Shield,” said Osam.
“We will be looking to continue on the work we’ve done with the players and what they did at U15 level last season in these two fixtures then turn the focus on the UEFA development tournament in May before we hand the squad over to the U17 Head Coach Colin O’Brien for next season.
“The work we’re doing is about adding to the players knowledge of international football and it’s also an opportunity for some players that we need to have a look at before they progress to the competitive games at U17 level.
“There’s some very good players at this age level and some have already done gone up to u17s while the likes of Adam Idah, Sean Brennan and Callum Thompson were unavailable for these games through injury.
“The standards the players have reached already this season means that it’s a big ask for anybody coming in to this squad but we’ve seen in the past that some players can be better suited to international level than club football and I’m sure they can adjust.
“We’d be hopeful we can get good results next week but we are more focused on getting the performances required at this level of the game and help with the development of the players.”
