Roy’s Irish boys sparkle

“I ALWAYS like coming to Ireland for friendlies, the Irish mentality is that you always want to do well against the English.”

So said a satisfied Roy Keane after Sunderland’s 4-0 win over Cobh Ramblers, a game he described as a good work out for his team. And it was a good night for the Irish with Anthony Stokes, Daryl Murphy and Roy O’Donovan all getting on the scoresheet for the Black Cats and their new signing from Cork City, David Meyler making his debut.

Before kick off, the photographers might have all been crowded around Roy Keane’s dugout but when the line-ups were called out, the biggest cheer was reserved for another homecoming boy, David Meyler, the former Cork City player who has followed Roy O’Donovan to Sunderland. Unlike O’Donovan, who was an established name in the eircom League when he moved to the Stadium Of Light last year, 19-year-old Meyler, the son of Wexford hurling boss John, had made only a couple of fleeting appearances in the City first team before Keane came a-calling. Named on the bench at the start last night, alongside O’Donovan, the match offered the prospect of an unlikely personal milestone for Meyler – a rare first team run-out at Turner’s Cross, only this time in the strip of an English Premiership side.

Teemu Tainio, operating as a defensive midfielder, was the only one of Roy Keane’s new signings who started but it was Sunderland’s Irish contingent who caught the eye throughout, pass master Andy Reid making it all look easy in the middle of the park and Daryl Murphy taking only three minutes to actually get his side off the mark. The former Waterford United striker might have looked offside when he fastened onto Kieran Richardson’s angled ball over the top but there was nothing dubious about the finish as he raced forward and slid the ball under James McCarthy.

To their credit, Cobh didn’t cave in after that early blow, and with the leggy Davin O’Neill a threat on the left flank, the home from home side ensured that their Premiership opponents had to be on their toes at the back. However, the main efforts on goal continued to come at the other end, where McCarthy had to be alert to keep out long-range efforts from Richardson and Reid.

As is customary in friendlies, half-time brought a flurry of substitutions for Cobh and two changes for Sunderland, with Roy O’Donovan receiving a warm welcome as he returned to his old stomping ground in place of Daryl Murphy. But it was another Irish star, Anthony Stokes, who extended the visitors’ lead just five minutes after the restart when his left-footed drive across the face of the goal outfoxed McCarthy and found the far corner of the left.

Cometh the hour, cometh Meyler, and his first cross from the right saw McCarthy forced to save from Stokes at the expense of a corner. But the game’s next talking point came at the other end when, after Darren Ward was harshly judged to have fouled Cobh’s loan signing Max Cream, the Sunderland ‘keeper then promptly ensured justice was done by saving Kevin Murray’s spot kick.

Anthony Stokes was the right man in the right place again with 12 minutes to go, his goal-line tap in the easiest part of a move which began with a great raking pass from Jack Colback to Nathan Luscombe whose ball across the face of goal gave the Irish international an unmissable chance to grab his second.

In the game’s only unhappy note, an accidental clash of heads saw Cobh subs Alan Kearney receive extensive treatment in the centre circle before being stretchered off, leaving Ramblers to see out the final five minutes with ten men. And there was still time for yet another Irishman to get on the scoresheet when, not for the first time at Turner’s Cross, Roy O’Donovan hit the back of the net, this time with a low angled shot which crept just inside the far post.

At the end of it all, Cobh might have been on the wrong end of the final scoreline again but, with a crowd of around three and half thousand adding to the take from a lucrative corporate dinner earlier in the day, it was a rare good day for Ramblers, one specifically lacking the kind of kick in the teeth which they have suffered in their last two competitive outings. A week ago the Belfield UCD goalkeeper Matt Gregg popped up in their box in time added on to steal a point and then, on Saturday at home to Bray Wanderers, Ramblers surrendered another lead, had a penalty first given and then taken away, and then, in the last minute of normal time, shipped the goal which meant another three points conceded in their increasingly uphill battle to beat the drop.

Last year’s First Division champions could be forgiven for thinking they are jinxed but last night Roy Keane helped ensure at least a temporary change in fortunes for his old club.

COBH RAMBLERS: McCarthy (Fennelly 85), Carey (Mulcahy 60), Murray, Guthire (Long 78), Coleman (Meade 45) , Kavanagh (Mulconry 45, Meade 68), O’ Halloran (Barrett 45), J. Kearney (A. Kearney), O’ Neill (Lally 45), Cummins (Cream 40), Gaynor (O’ Shea 45).

SUNDERLAND: Gordon (Ward 60), Bardsley, Nosworthy, Collins, Liddle, Richardson (Meyler 60), Reid (Colback 60), Tainio (Luscombe 45), Whitehead (Leadbitter 60), Stokes, Murphy (O’Donovan 45).

Referee: A. Kelly (Cork).