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Irish Abroad: Given a chance, Villa keeper returns for league start

Updated / Tuesday, 5 May 2015 14:36
Shay Given's career has been rejuvenated at club and country over the past few months
Shay Given's career has been rejuvenated at club and country over the past few months

Shay Given found himself thrown head first into the Aston Villa relegation battle on Saturday for the clash with Everton at Villa Park.

Villa manager Tim Sherwood dropped regular keeper Brad Guzan in place of the Ireland keeper after the American endured a nightmare in their last league game against Manchester City.

Given has been used in Villa’s FA Cup run, which has seen the Birmingham side reach this year’s final, and perhaps the manager was just waiting on such a scenario to get the in-form Given back in nets for the league run-in.

Sherwood must have been pretty confident to change his keeper with the official arrival of ‘squeaky bum time’ but the gamble, if you could call it that, reaped dividends as Villa beat the league’s in-form side 3-2 to edge closer to safety.

It was Given’s first league start in almost three years and thanks to some fine possession football from his team-mates, the recently re-instated Ireland number one did not have a shot to save in the opening 45 minutes as his side enjoyed a two-goal lead.

There was little the Donegal man could do about the opening Everton goal as it arrived from the penalty spot and the only shaky moment of the game came in injury time as Everton tried to salvage something from the game, as Villa had restored their two-goal advantage, leading 3-1.

A dropping ball was not dealt with from the Ireland keeper, who claimed to have been impeded by fellow Donegal man Seamus Coleman and it caused a nerve-janglingly final few minutes as Everton capitalised to make it 3-2.

There was definitely a little bit of obstruction from Coleman for the goal but a bigger, stronger keeper would have barely noticed the Everton man’s presence and would have collected easily.

It’s an area where Given has never really excelled, but really only a minor blot on Saturday’s copybook as he can look forward to clinching Premier League status with Villa, an FA Cup final and Ireland’s important qualifier with Scotland, not to mention the England friendly, before he puts his feet up for the summer.

One gamble that certainly has passed off for the Villa boss has been the introduction of Ireland Under-21 star Jack Grealish who looks very comfortable, roaming freely about in the number 10 position.

Grealish’s set-pieces caused plenty of problems all afternoon for the Toffees, while he was also instrumental in the home side’s ball retention, which had the Everton midfield chasing shadows for large chunks of the match.

There may be a lot of debate as to where the exciting midfielder’s international future lies, but there is certainly no questioning his ability and confidence in possession of the football, which will be a huge addition to future Ireland squads, should he remain on his current international journey.

It was an off day for Everton’s Irish contingent of Coleman and James McCarthy who were unable to match their magnificent display from the previous weekend, where they beat Manchester United 3-0. Aiden McGeady was back on the bench for Everton but was not called on.

Stephen Quinn was on target for Hull City on Monday night but it proved a mere consolation as the damage had been done in the first half, where a rampant Arsenal took a 3-0 lead into the break.

Robbie Brady and Paul McShane also started and Steve Bruce's side put in a much better performance in the second half with the introduction of David Meyler into the midfield as the Tigers kept up their survival chances by getting back to 3-1 and saving their goal-difference from taking a real hiding.

And former Cork City man Meyler will certainly remember this encounter as he received a nasty gash on his eye. 

Otherwise, it was a pretty slow week for the Irish based in the Premier League with Damien Delaney captaining Crystal Palace as his side went down 1-0 to champions Chelsea, while Shane Long started against Sunderland but could do little to prevent the Saints losing 2-1 to the relegation-threatened home side.

John O’Shea limped off the pitch injured in that game after been involved in a couple of collisions.

Richard Dunne put in another Trojan effort on a emotional day for QPR but ultimately ended up on the losing side at Liverpool, and now the Rs are all-but relegated, while Jon Walters, Glenn Whelan, Marc Wilson and Stephen Ireland all played but rarely featured as Swansea City eased to a 2-0 win.

New Ireland recruit Harry Arter can take a well-earned break as his Bournemouth side wrapped up the Championship title easing past Stephen Henderson’s Charlton on the last day of the regular season.

The midfielder is surely set to get a good run out in either, or both, of Ireland’s upcoming friendlies against England or the behind-closed-doors match with Northern Ireland.

Arter added another goal to his impressive tally this season as he dispossessed the Charlton defender, before side-footing the ball past the Irish keeper to score against his former side.

And while all the focus at Bournemouth has been on Arter, let's not forget their other Irish players who contributed to their title-winning season, Eunan O'Kane and Ireland veteran Ian Harte.

Will Hartey and his gifted left foot be making a return to the Premier League next season?

Keiren Westwood was named the best keeper in the Championship this season but was unavailable for the final game of the season as Chris Kirkland started for Sheffield Wednesday as the Owls upset Watford’s plans for league victory with a 1-1 draw at Vicarage Road. Tommie Hoban was again an unused sub for the Hornets.

Daryl Murphy opened the scoring to grab his 26th league goal of the year as he connected with a fine left-footed volley inside the opening minutes as Ipswich went in search of the point that would secure their play-off place.

But Blackburn failed to read the script and hit three goals to shock the Tractor Boy, however, by the time Murphy grabbed his second, and 27th of the season, from the spot, Mick McCarthy’s men were all but guaranteed their play-off place due to results elsewhere.

And it has been a great season for Ireland Under-21 defender Darragh Lenihan who was recalled to his club Blackburn in March after helping Burton to top the table in League Two. Lenihan started again for Blackburn on Saturday and looked solid against a powerful, attacking Ipswich side.

Richard Keogh and the Irish contingent at Derby have also finished for the season, but not in the manner they would have liked, as they ended their campaign with a disappointing defeat to Reading.

Jeff Hendrick also started for the Rams, who only needed a point to make the play-offs but Alex Pearce’s Reading decided to keep one of their best performances of the season to the final game as they eased to a 3-0 win.

There has been little talk of Alan Judge getting some international recognition, but Brentford’s remarkable season has been arguable more impressive than that of champions Bournemouth and the Bees finished with a fine victory over Wigan to sneak into the play-off places at the expense of Derby.

Judge has been excellent all season and showed what he is about on Saturday to win a penalty, which Brentford could afford to miss as they ran out 3-0 winners and will face Middlesbrough in the play-off semi-finals.

Judge and skipper Jonathan Douglas have been the driving force in the Brentford midfield this season and perhaps their play-off progress will be monitored by the Ireland management team.

Wolves did all that was expected of them as they beat Millwall 4-2 on the final day but they would be edged out because of Brentford’s win. Kevin Doyle remained on the bench all afternoon and will now look forward to restarting his career Stateside.

Millwall’s Irish contingent of David Forde, Alan Dunne, Shaun Williams and Aiden O’Brien can start planning for life in League One or their New Den exit strategy. O’Brien finished the season on the scoresheet as he tapped home from close range and will certainly be attracting offers over the summer.

In one of the few games of no significance in the division, former Sligo and Shamrock Rovers striker Eoin Doyle finished the season as he began by bagging another goal, which brought his combined tally to 30 goals as he joins John Aldridge and Simon Cox as one of the few Irish players to reach the milestone in English football.

In League One, Darren Potter was on target and Samir Carruthers started as MK Dons secured promotion to the Championship, easing past relegated Yeovil, while Preston were beaten at Colchester.

Champions Bristol City hit Walsall for EIGHT as they topped the division one point shy of the 100-point mark. Derrick Williams earned the home side a penalty in the goal-fest, while Greg Cunningham was an unused sub.

Elsewhere, Billy Clarke was on target for Bradford as they beat Crewe 1-0, while John Egan headed home from close range as Gillingham consigned Notts County to League Two.

Cork’s Conor Hourihane finished his player of the year-winning season at Barnsley with three assists and a goal in their 5-0 Rochdale rout as the Tykes ended the season in 11th place. A summer move up a division is a distinct possibility for the former Ireland Under-21 midfielder.

Scunthorpe finished the season with a 5-2 defeat to Paul Keegan and Enda Stevens’ Doncaster and Niall Canavan bowed out with an own goal with a glanced header into his own goal.

Former Bohemians striker Paddy Madden tried to claim the Iron’s second but failed to get a touch as a last-minute free-kick was a mere consolation with Scunthorpe finishing 16th.

In League Two, Southend and their Irish contingent were looking to secure automatic promotion with a win at Morecambe but they will have to negotiate the play-offs as they lost 3-1.

In the battle for the title, Shrewsbury ran out of juice as they were easily beaten by Plymouth, as Damien McCrory and Burton Albion secured the title on the final day as they beat Cambridge 3-2.

Elsewhere, former Galway United utility man, Seamus Conneely bagged another goal as he helped Accrington Stanley to a 2-1 victory over Mansfield.

In Scotland, Adam Rooney missed out on the SPFA Player of the Year and his side Aberdeen missed out on the chance to win the title as Celtic wrapped up their fourth league crown in a row.

Rooney had an early chance to take the lead but his header was well saved, while the striker proved a real nuisance all afternoon, forcing the Dundee United into another good save in the second half but the Dons were beaten 1-0.

On a positive note, the Dubliner may yet finish the season as the league’s top scorer, have netted 17 times so far.

Anthony Stokes earned another league-winning medal for the Celts but was an unused sub in Friday night’s victory.

Sean St Ledger got on the scoresheet for his new side Orlando as the Ireland defender headed home from close range in his side’s 3-2 win friendly win over Brazilian Serie A club Ponte Preta.

In California, Robbie Keane remains out injured as LA Galaxy were held to a 1-1 draw with Colorado Rapids at the weekend.

Former League of Ireland star striker, Eamon Zayed, was back on the scoresheet for Sabah, while Billy Mehmet was also on target in Malaysia, netting in Sarawak's 3-2 win over Kelantan.

Former Wolves defender Kevin Foley featured in Copenhagen’s 2-1 win at the weekend as he played 17 minutes for his new side.

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