Yassine answers Irish call

ONE of the shining stars of Corduff FC’s ever growing schoolboy section played a key role as the Republic of Ireland Under-16 development squad lifted the Mayo International Cup last week.
Yassine En-Neyah may have swapped the red and white of the Duff for the red and black of Bohemians in recent weeks, but the club still clearly think of him as one of their own with a bundle of praise for the teenager on their various social media accounts.
En-Neyah was part of an 18-man squad that Tom O’Connor selected for the competition which featured Northern Ireland, FAI Castlebar, Chesterfield and Millwall. O’Connor’s side won all four of their fixtures over the course of the weekend and conceded just one goal in the process.
The young Boys in Green opened the tournament with a 5-1 win over Chesterfield. Gavin Kilkenny opened the scoring after just a minute before Aaron Connolly doubled the lead just two minutes later. Cian Murphy added a third before Dominic Peppard made it 4-0 just before half-time. Chesterfield pulled one back through Maasai Dearlove after the break but Jordan Wells scored an own goal late to restore Ireland’s four goal lead and wrap up and emphatic opening victory.
Next up was Millwall and the Irish recorded another four goal win, this time with a 4-0 victory thanks to a brace from player of the tournament Connolly and strikes from Thomas Caffrey and Jordan Doherty.
Ireland then beat an FAI Castlebar Select 3-0 in the next game which was a decent encounter. Connolly again got the opening goal before adding a second just after the break. Ireland’s final goal of the game courtesy of En-Neyah. The Blanch baller weaved his way in from the wing and struck a delightful finish past Lorcan Callaghan.
Ireland then wrapped up the tournament with a 3-0 win over their Northern rivals which made it four wins from four.
En-Neyah was one of six players who left Corduff over the summer to join Bohemians’ League of Ireland U-17 side. During the summer, Bohs and the NDSL announced a partnership which would see the league’s most promising talents join the Gypsies youth set-up.
In total, Corduff lost eight players to League of Ireland underage clubs over the summer and reflects a positive mark on the club according to its PRO John McGuinness. “We welcome it,” he said. “It’s a sign that we’re developing young footballers in the right way and it’s what we’re here to do.”
As well as his international goalscoring exploits, En-Neyah was recently named NDSL Player of the Tournament at this summer’s Milk Cup tournament.