Danny Rogers ready to emulate Dublin pal Cormac Costello
Costello was a year behind Rogers at Ard Scoil Rís in Artane and they were teammates at Whitehall Colmcilles before the latter embarked on a soccer career that has led this week to his first involvement with the senior Republic of Ireland squad.
With Keiren Westwood injured, Shay Given retired, and Gary Rogers busy with Dundalk, there is every chance that Danny Rogers would be called on against Georgia or Moldova in the event that anything happened to Darren Randolph.
Alternatively, it could be the equally green Ian Lawlor.
“I know, yeah,” Rogers said when that possibility of emulating Costello’s cameo was put to him.
“I haven’t seen it. He scored the last three points, did he? He’s unbelievable. Even when we were at school, he was just unbelievable.
He added: “I’d be more than capable and ready. That’s what happened with Darren. He went in and he’s cemented his place. He’s been number one ever since.
“I’ll be more than ready to go in and grab it with both hands.”
Should he feature, it would mark only the second time that a player from Scotland’s second tier turned out for Ireland. The first was Harry Chatton, who was with Dumbarton when he played way back in 1931.
“Get me a cap then,” Rogers joked. “You never know.”
He’s happy enough for now with the exposure this call-up has offered. Old school friends and teammates have sent their congratulations and he introduced himself to the squad with a rendition of Ronan Keatings ‘Life is a Rollercoaster’.
He certainly seems ready to move up in the world.
Falkirk made the Scottish League Cup final last season, but missed out on promotion. Currently third in the Scottish Championship, he has his eyes on the number one jersey at Aberdeen down the line.
“I don’t want to go out on loan next year, I think I’ve done my loan spells,” he admitted. “So, I’ll go back and fight for the number one spot.”
So much of this all depends on timing... and luck.
Like Rogers, Adam Rooney owes his place in Dublin this week to an absence of others and the Aberdeen striker knows how fickle fate can be after injury hobbled an earlier opportunity last March.
Called into the squad for the friendlies against Switzerland and Slovakia, Rooney pulled a muscle doing some routine shooting practice after training. Tough break, given he’d scored nine goals in his last 10 games at the time.
“It was the first muscle injury I’d ever had, so it was terrible timing, but they were actually the games Jonny [Hayes] got in and did well and got a couple of caps,” he said.
“It was disappointing at the time, but you just have to get on with it and sit tight.”
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