Newtowncunningham’s Ronan McKinley was an unused substitute today as the Republic of Ireland Under-16s won their opening game in the Victory Shield.
Troy Parrott’s goal gave Ireland a 1-0 win over Northern Ireland.
Parrott’s penalty in the 44th-minute was the only goal of an entertaining encounter in the Bangor Fuels Arena.
Striker Armstrong Okoflex was fouled in the box before Belvedere’s Parrott scored the winner.
The Irish side, managed by Paul Osam, are up against Wales on Wednesday and Derry City midfielder McKinley is tipped to be included for that one.
“We want to win the games obviously, but we also need the players to develop,” Osam said.
“We need to look at players playing in the environment. It’s about winning, but it’s also about developing a group for the UEFA Under 17 Championships in 2019, which we are hosting.
“Our focus was to get a good start today and a positive result. We got that. The result in the other game was favourable to us as well.”
Wales and Scotland drew 1-1 meaning Ireland are the early group leaders.
