Dundalk young guns impress as O’Donnell tries out academy prospects

Stephen O’Donnell admitted that youngster Emmanuel Adegboyega’s confirmed move from Dundalk FC to Drogheda United last Thursday evening had come as a shock.

The 19-year-old defender, who was part of Dundalk’s pre-season training preparations up until that same day, had caught the attention of several English clubs, including Crystal Palace, Norwich City and West Ham United, but instead opted for Drogheda.

However, Dundalk head coach O’Donnell appeared far from happy with the nature of Adegboyega’s move to their Louth rivals, claiming the deal was done behind his back.

“Manny was in training with us for the last couple of weeks,” said O’Donnell, when asked about the ex-Glenmuir United schoolboy.

“We thought we were negotiating with him and then, unbeknownst to us, he obviously was forging his own path. He was training with us yesterday (last Thursday) and then signed for Drogheda that evening without us knowing.”

Adegboyega never made a competitive first-team appearance for The Lilywhites, but was listed as an unused substitute in their final five SSE Airtricity League fixtures last season.

It is likely he was intended to play some part in the 0-0 friendly draw against Finn Harps at Oriel Park – a game played one day after his move, and in which O’Donnell handed valuable minutes to no fewer than six players from Tiarnan Mulvenna’s U19 panel.

Senan Mullen, who started as an unorthodox left-back, along with Eoin Kenny and Callum Bonner, both of whom came off the bench, featured less than 24 hours later for the Republic of Ireland U18 Schools team, in their 2-1 win over Australia in Whitehall.

Oisin Coleman, Jake Hough and Anthony Mayo also played against Harps last Friday, leaving O’Donnell impressed with some of the contributions from the academy players.

Dundalk's UK recruitment drive begins as financial realities become clearer

The Commentary Box: The Gerry Malone Column

Dundalk held to pre-season draw against Finn Harps

“If they’re good enough, we will (utilise them),” he added. “We’re not going to do it for the sake of it, as a token gesture. There has to be a balance.

“We do want our own young players coming through without a doubt, but there has to be a certain calibre, and the young players that played tonight were excellent.

“I didn’t even show Senan in his best light, because he’s a central-midfield player. It’s just from a personnel point of view and a balance point of view, he had to play left-back, but he’s a central-midfield player, and he’ll be a really good one.
“Then the other boys that came on, I thought they were all excellent.

“Anthony played last week (in a training game), done very well, and then came on, looked lively in the second half this week.”