Aaron McColgan in action for Inishowen against Sheffield United in the Foyle Cup final.
BY CHRIS MCNULTY
QUIGLEY’S Point Swifts player Aaron McColgan has been selected as part of an 18-man Republic of Ireland Under-15 panel for a friendly double header against Poland this week.
Midfielder McColgan, who is also comfortable at left-back and on the left-wing, is part of Colin O’Brien’s team for the double header this week that sees games in Mniow on Tuesday and Strawczyn on Thursday.
McColgan played for the Ireland Under-14 Development side in the Hibernia Umbro Trophy in August and impressed at the Kennedy Cup earlier in the year, scoring five goals in six games. He was a member of the Inishowen team that won the Under-13 Foyle Cup, defeating Sheffield United in the final.
McColgan and Ireland are in Poland to test themselves against their Polish counterparts.
“This is their first opportunity to play as a side and for us to assess how they carry out what we’ve asked them to do when we have the ball and when the opponents are in possession,” manager O’Brien said.
“We’ve spent a lot of time working on identifying and scouting these players. The process includes from the ETP centres nationwide to the Kennedy Cup competition during the summer where every team was watched at least five times by FAI staff.
“After that players were brought together for national assessment and from that 36 players came together and trained. 18 of those players will travel to Poland next week and the other 18 will have another development fixture in the coming weeks.”
Ireland will also face Scotland and the Netherlands at U15 level this season.
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