SOCCER:ST PATRICK'S Athletic's Danny North has been named as the Airtricity/Soccer Writers' Association of Ireland Player of the Month for June, writes Emmet Malone.
The 23-year-old scored four goals, helping the club to take 13 points from 15, a run that briefly took the Inchicore outfit to the top of the Premier Division table.
North, who has formed an impressive partnership up with Daryl Kavanagh in recent months, has relished the opportunity to play regularly this year after admitting he found his initial spell with the club at the end of last year a little frustrating.
Over the course of last month he scored against Derry, Dundalk, Galway and Bray to continue a strong run of form that had
really started to take shape in the preceding weeks.
More recently he has been sidelined by injury but the Englishman is hoping to be at least involved in the preparations for the Europa League match against Shakther Karagandy at Richmond Park on Thursday.
“Hopefully I’ll be fit enough to play a part in training in the build up to the game. Really, I’m dying to get going again in training,” he said.“All our attention is focused on Thursday for sure, when I came to Ireland I knew that the club were ambitious about Europe, it was an added incentive for me.”
* Ahead of the friendly match between a Liverpool XI and Bray Wanderers at the Carlisle Grounds last night, Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish confirmed that the Merseysiders have concluded a partnership with Bray Wanderers and St Joseph’s Boys.
Under the terms of the deal, Liverpool will look to tap into the Irish clubs’ established record of producing talented young players and, it hopes, extend its scouting network in Ireland while Bray Wanderers and St Joseph’s will receive support and training for the coaches from the Anfield outfit who will also send youth teams to tournaments organised by the Sallynoggin schoolboy club.
