Grimes to return to his roots for City friendly

Pre-season games in early February don’t usually whet the appetite for fans of the domestic game, but Cork City are expecting a crowd of over 2,000 to pass through the gates when they entertain a Leeds United selection at Turner’s Cross tonight (kick-off 7.45pm).

Cork-born Eric Grimes will be the visitors’ main attraction, the 18-year-old goalkeeper making his first appearance on home soil since signing for the Elland Road club two years ago.

He played his schoolboy football with Ringmahon Rangers before moving across the channel in June 2011. He has impressed at the Elland Road club’s academy side since making the move and played the full 90 minutes in a development squad game against Wigan on Tuesday afternoon.

While the Leeds squad may not include any first-team players, with the bulk of the travelling party made up of U21s, Grimes is set to start along with Irish underage international striker Eoghan Stokes, formerly of St Kevin’s Boys in Dublin.

Elsewhere, the highly-rated German centre-half Monty Gimpel, who was courted by Liverpool and Chelsea before signing for Leeds, is expected to feature, with 18-year-old striker Luke Parkin set to lead the line for them.

City manager Tommy Dunne has no late injury worries heading into the tie and is expected to give debuts to new signings Darren Dennehy, Daryl Kavanagh, Adam Rundle and Danny Furlong, with Denis Behan also in line to make a return after re-signing with the club last week.

They play Longford Town in another friendly on Saturday afternoon before their Setanta Cup opener with Cliftonville on Monday night.