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Irish Independent
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
‘We had some good chats' – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirms FAI approached him about succeeding Stephen Kenny
And as the former Manchester United manager returns to Ireland for a Europa Conference League tie between his Besiktas outfit and St Patrick's Athletic, he has dismissed any suggestion that the third round tie is a "free hit" for the Dublin club, with the Tottenham-bound Mason Melia a threat to his team, he fears. The Norwegian was one of the names in the frame in the long wait between the end of Kenny's reign as Ireland coach and the recruitment of Heimir Hallgrimsson, and while sources close to Solskjaer played down the reports at the time, he said in Dublin on the eve of that clash with Kenny's outfit that he was in touch. "After him [Kenny], the Irish FA asked me if I wanted to be their coach. I had some good conversations. It didn't turn out that way, I am happy where I am now. We had some good chats," he said of his dealings with the FAI. Solskjaer had the perfect outcome the last time he managed a team against Irish opposition, wins home and away with two clean sheets when his Molde outfit knocked Sligo Rovers out of the Champions League 12 years ago. But he has done his homework on the Saints, having studied their tussle with Istanbul rivals Basaksekir last year, and is wary. St Pat's are hoping that ticket sales, at the 7,000 mark on the eve of the game, can edge closer to a 10,000 sellout. Besiktas took up their allocation of 500 tickets for home-based fans but many more are expected to attend, from the Turkish community in Ireland and the UK. 'Well, if you think we think we are better than them, you're wrong, because we respect absolutely every opponent, I'm sure they want to win, expect to win. At Manchester United, Cardiff City, Molde, Besiktas, I expected my players to win, whoever they played against and I am sure they will feel the same. "Last year, they [St Pat's] got one step further than this, I am sure they want to do that, I wouldn't call anything a free hit in football anymore," he said when asked by the Irish Independent if the tie was indeed a free hit for Besiktas. The former United man also backed Melia (17) to prosper at Tottenham when he moves over in January, Solklsjaer having spied on Melia as recently as last Sunday's win away to Waterford. "When you perform at that level at 17, definitely, of course," he said when asked if Melia had Premier League quality. "You see a mature finisher, a good finisher, his movement, his goal against Waterford, the way he spun off the centre back and timed his run. I don't want to put pressure on him, I follow him as I always follow young players, when you see them early you follow their careers. I've got a few decent players from Ireland that I played with, so I am fond of Irish players," he said. 'He is a proper No. 9, he can play off the shoulder, very good at link play, he can come short as well, he's a good finisher. He's got the world ahead of him, I am sure he will have a very good career. I wish him all the best after eight or nine days from now." Solskjaer came into the tie under scrutiny back in Turkey after a 6-2 aggregate loss to Shakhtar Donetsk, which dumped Besiktas out of the Europa League with a drop into the Conference League but he says he can deal with it. 'Pressure is a privilege, it's something we thrive on underneath, we need it to play at our best," he said, his club with a new signing in the last 24 hours with the €9m purchase of Wilfried Ndidi from Leicester City. "When results go against you, you don't enjoy that period but it's a chance to show character, show individual character, and it's a bumpy road, football and you have to manoeuvre it and accept it. If you don't get results, there will be criticism, if you win every day you are still not perfect. We are in all the tournaments to win, every single game, we want to go as far as we possibly can, going to the final, that is our dream."
The Irish Sun
7 days ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Mason Melia strikes as St Patrick's Athletic down Waterford after European return
Mason Melia ended his six-game league goal drought with a clinical first-half finish as St Patrick's Athletic returned from European action to see off Waterford 2-0 at the RSC SPURRED ON Mason Melia strikes as St Patrick's Athletic down Waterford after European return MASON MELIA'S first-half opener paved the way towards St Pat's claiming a deserved away victory over Waterford at the RSC. And it was a vital result for Stephen Kenny's side, who had failed to win a league game since May 30, as they moved into sixth. 2 Mason Melia of St Patrick's Athletic shoots to score his side's first goal during against Waterford 2 St Patrick's Athletic manager Stephen Kenny was delighted after LOI win It also keeps the Saints rolling ahead of their Conference League tie with Besiktas on Thursday after seeing off Estonians Kalju last week. Tottenham-bound Melia got the Saints up and running in the south-east after making a superb run to score in the 18th minute. And after Pat's missed a host of chances to extend their lead, sub Conor Carty sealed it six minutes from time. Waterford were indecisive early on and were lucky to not fall behind. But Melia was unable to convert from a Kian Leavy delivery inside five minutes. Conan Noonan went close for the Blues at the other end but he could not get a touch on Finlay Armstrong's cross. Noonan and Tommy Lonegan then linked up inside the penalty area with the latter getting on the ball on the left. But his shot was blocked away for a corner. The Inchicore side broke the deadlock with 18 minutes on the clock. Former Reading youth Leavy picked up the ball in the middle of the park before releasing Melia. And the striker was kept onside by Ryan Burke before he fired past helpless Blues keeper Stephen McMullan. Son Heung-breaks down in tears as Tottenham legend is given emotional farewell in final match Former Saint Lonergan had a penalty appeal rejected on 29 minutes when he went down under a challenge from Anto Breslin. Referee Daniel Murphy waved away the appeals. Melia could have doubled the Saints' lead six minutes before the break only to fire wide. Striker Lonergan then saw a looping header clear Joseph Anang's crossbar moments before the interval. The visitors started the second half on the front foot with a big chance coming their way just shy of the hour mark. Leavy and Brandon Kavanagh linked up in the midfield, with the latter playing Melia in between the Waterford defence. But his effort that was arrowed for the near post was turned away by McMullan before Burke blocked an effort from captain Joe Redmond past the hour. Winger Jake Mulraney, latched on to a superb through ball from Kavanagh on 70 minutes. But his angled effort was turned around the post by McMullan as John Coleman's troops struggled. Tempers then flared with ref Murphy dishing out six yellow cards between players and management following a tackle from Josh Miles on Kavanagh. The Dublin official finished the game with a card count of 11. But the Saints were in no mood to let it affect them. And they sealed the deal when Carty peeled off his marker to get on the end of Kavanagh's teasing corner. He then beat keeper McMullan with a delightful left-footed finish. Waterford FC 0 - 2 St. Patrick's Athletic SUN STAR MAN Jamie Lennon (St Pat's) WATERFORD: McMullan 7; Horton 6 (Miles 59, 4), Boyle 6 (Coyle 84, 3), Leahy 6, Burke 5; Armstrong 6 (Dempsey 59, 5); Rossiter 7 (Glenfield 82, 3), McDonald 5 (Olayinka 59, 5); Lonergan 6, Amond 6, Noonan 6. ST PAT'S: Anang 7; Sjoberg 7, Redmond 7, Grivosti 7, Breslin 5 (Kazeem 38, 6); Lennon 9, Leavy 8, Kavanagh 8 (Robinson 90, 3), Forrester 8 (Baggley 90, 3), Mulraney 7 (Carthy 75, 6); Melia 8 (Power 75, 5). REFEREE: D Murphy (Dublin) 5.
RTÉ News
7 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Mason Melia back amongst the goals as St Pat's Athletic account for Waterford
Mason Melia ended a wait of six games for a goal as his first-half strike proved pivotal for St Patrick's Athletic as they returned from Estonia to record a win over Waterford FC in the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division at the RSC. The Tottenham-bound striker timed his run to perfection to finish an 18th-minute through ball from Kian Leavy to finish, and after they missed a host of chances to extend their lead, it was substitute Conor Carthy who sealed a card-ridden affair six minutes from time. From the outside, Waterford looked hesitant in defence with Melia unlucky not to convert a Leavy delivery inside five minutes before Conan Noonan had a big chance for the hosts at the other end two minutes later, but he couldn't get a vital touch on the end of Finlay Armstrong's delivery. Noonan and Tommy Lonegan linked up superbly inside the penalty area on 20 minutes with the latter getting on the ball on the left, but his shot was blocked out for a corner as the game started at a frantic tempo. It was the Inchicore side that broke the deadlock with 18 minutes on the clock when Kian Leavy picked up possession of the ball in the middle of the park before releasing Mason Melia, who was kept onside by Ryan Burke, and the Tottenham Hotspur-bound striker fired past the helpless Stephen McMullan. Tommy Lonergan had a penalty appeal turned down on 29 minutes when he went down under a challenge from Anto Breslin, but referee Daniel Murphy waved away appeals, before Mason Melia could have doubled the lead six minutes before the break only to fire inches wide. Lonergan saw a looping header just clear Joseph Anang's crossbar on the stroke of half-time before the visitors started the second-half on the front foot with a big chance coming to their striker just shy of the hour-mark. Leavy and Kavanagh linked up in the middle of the park with the latter playing Melia in between the Waterford defence, but his effort that was arrowed for the near post was turned out by McMullan before Ryan Burke blocked away an effort from captain Joe Redmond on 64 minutes. European match-winner, Jake Mulraney, latched onto a superb through ball from Kavanagh on 70 minutes, but his angled effort was turned around the posts by Stephen McMullan as the hosts struggled to get a foothold in the game. Referee Daniel Murphy lost the run of himself and his yellow card ten minutes from time as he showed it six times in the direction of players and management as tempers frayed after a tackle from Josh Miles on Brandon Kavanagh. Second-half substitute Conor Carthy settled the game for the South Dublin outfit on 84 minutes when he peeled off his marker to get on the end of Kavanagh's teasing left-wing corner-kick to beat keeper McMullan with a left-footed finish from close-range. Waterford FC: McMullan; Horton (Miles 59), Boyle (Coyle 84), Leahy, Burke; Armstrong (Dempsey 59); Rossiter (Glenfield 82), McDonald (Olayinka 59); Lonergan, Amond, Noonan. St Patrick's Athletic: Anang; Sjoberg, Redmond, Grivosti, Breslin (Kazeem 38); Lennon, Leavy, Kavanagh (Robinson 90), Forrester (Baggley 90), Mulraney (Carthy 75); Melia (Power 75). Attendance: 2,651
The 42
17-07-2025
- Sport
- The 42
D-Day for Stephen Kenny and St Pat's in €700,000 game
STEPHEN KENNY says St Patrick's Athletic are expecting a tougher game than last week as they prepare for Thursday's second leg encounter in Lithuania against Hegelmann (kick-off: 5pm Irish time). The Premier Division outfit, who will be without injured duo Romal Palmer and Sean Hoare for the game, secured a 1-0 first leg victory in Richmond Park. While pleased with the overall performance in Dublin, Kenny admitted his side's finishing was 'lacking,' and the Saints will hope that issue doesn't come back to haunt them in the return leg. In the first game, Aidan Keena came off the bench to score an 81st-minute winner from the penalty spot. But Kenny was unwilling to provide any hints as to whether the Mullingar-born striker had done enough to earn a starting place on this occasion, with stiff competition provided up front by Tottenham-bound teenager Mason Melia. As for their opponents, the Pat's boss believes Hegelmann will attempt a different approach compared to their cautious display in Dublin. 'We probably didn't see the full extent of them last week. At home, I expect they'll have a higher level of performance. We'll have to more than match that and make sure that we come out on the right side of this tie. Advertisement 'We feel they have more in their locker than they showed last week, and they'll be more committed from an attacking point of view. 'Sometimes there can be a disparity; teams are more comfortable in their environment, so there can be a difference in performance between home and away. For some teams, you come over and their levels are up. They look like different players. That can happen often. Regardless of that, it's up to us to raise our levels.' Hegelmann are currently third in the Lithuanian top flight after 19 games and play their home matches on an AstroTurf pitch. 'I haven't seen it yet, but we're not fixating on that,' Kenny said. 'We've trained on AstroTurf in our last two training sessions, so we know what to expect.' Despite holding the advantage, Kenny said his team would adopt an attacking mindset for the away trip. Goals and positive results have been hard to come by of late for the Irish side. They had gone into the home leg having scored just twice in their last seven Premier Division matches and failing to win their previous six. The former Ireland manager insists progress has been made in that frustrating period. 'I think we still have it all to prove. But we have faith in the players. They've shown good application, good attitude and a desire to put our finishing boots on. We have adapted tactically in the last couple of weeks and created more chances. And I feel the goals will definitely come. 'I think our last three home performances, even though we got beaten by Derry, we played to a very high level in that game, and it was a good performance against Bohemians. And we were excellent last week. We had really good play throughout. I liked the shape of the team, I liked the passing options, we'd had a lot of players committed in the attacking third. So we have adapted somewhat to how we were playing during the season, and we've seen benefits of it, but we just missed some fantastic chances, there is no doubt about that.' The winner of the tie will be guaranteed a minimum €700,000 and, in the next round, will face either Estonian side Nõmme Kalju FC or Albanian outfit FK Partizani, with the former hosting a 1-1 first-leg draw. While acknowledging the financial aspect of the game is important, Kenny says it's not something the squad ever discuss. 'The other side of it is, we probably have no right to be in Europe, at one stage last year we were third from bottom, we wouldn't have got anything, so the players have worked extremely hard to get up from third bottom to finish third and qualify for Europe, which was a great achievement. Now we have the opportunity to go into round two, we need to look at it positively, be positive in our approach, rather than worry about the consequences of not doing it, as we may not have been in Europe at all.' The conditions may not be ideal, with Kenny citing talk of potential thunderstorms during the game, while the match is set to be played in front of a small home crowd and a sizeable contingent of travelling support. 'I am not sure what to expect in that regard,' the Dubliner added. 'Our motivation is high; we must always have those levels of concentration. Sometimes, in an eerie atmosphere, there can be lapses, as opposed to a high-octane, adrenaline-filled occasion. 'The travelling supporters were a big help in Vaduz [for the Uefa Conference League tie] last year, in particular, in what was a tough away game. So a similar support can help again — if it is a tight ground, we will hear them.'
Irish Daily Mirror
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Spurs-bound Melia scores first European goal as St Pat's ease through
Mason Melia turned on the style in Europe on Thursday evening to ease St Patrick's Athletic into the second qualifying round of the Europa Conference League. The Tottenham-bound striker scored his first European goal after just six minutes to settle any nerves the Saints might have had, as they looked to build on last week's 1-0 win at Richmond Park. And he provided a classy assist for Kian Leavy's second-half strike to end any prospect of a comeback by Lithuanian side FC Hegelmann. READ MORE: Shelbourne bank €1.7m Champions League progress and edge closer to league phase READ MORE: Former Shamrock Rovers and Inter Milan youngster scores in trial game for Sligo Rovers Stephen Kenny's side will face the winners of Kalju (Estonia) or Partizani (Albania), who kick off at 7pm with that tie delicately poised at 1-1 from the first-leg. Leavy was outstanding throughout, with his fancy footwork causing all sorts of problems for Hegelmann, while Jay McClelland played a big role on the left. Joe Redmond and Tom Grivosti put in a couple of big blocks and tackles to curb the limited attacking threat of their hosts. But they were all upstaged by 17-year-old Melia, who next January will become the most expensive export from the League of Ireland when he leaves for Tottenham. He opened the scoring after just six minutes when he tapped the ball home from close range. The finish was an easy one, but that's only because his brilliant movement made it so. As McClelland raced onto a Leavy pass and drove the ball across goal, Melia was already on the move to get across his defender and finish, as goalkeeper Vincentos Sarkouskas could only palm the ball into his path. His contribution for Leavy's strike in the 56th minute was even more impressive. The teenager turned his man on half-way and gave a demonstration of his pace by sprinting towards the area. With Leavy in space to his left, he slipped the ball to the attacking midfielder, who switched it onto his left foot before rifling an unstoppable shot high into the roof of the net. Hegelmann didn't offer a whole lot in attack, but they could have levelled the tie before Melia's strike. Redmond's brave block denied Njoya Abdel, and Carlos Duke smashed the rebound over from 12 yards. That's the closest they came to finding the net on a sticky evening in Lithuania. Pat's were in control for most of the game, and could have added to their tally. Melia was denied what looked to be a clear penalty when he was bundled over in the box. But the damage was already done, with Pat's comfortably on their way to a guaranteed €500,000 in prize money and a spot in the second round. HEGELMANN: Vincentas Sarkauskas 6; Klaudijus Upstas 5, Vilius Armalas 6, Nikola Doric 6, Carlos Duke 6; Lazar Kojic 5, Domantas Antanavičius 6 (Abdoul Samad Harouna 70); Donatas Kazlauskas 6 (Emilis Kausinis 70), Leo Ribeiro 6 (Yanis Azouzi 84), Artem Shchedryi 6 (Patrick Popescu 63); Njoya Abdel 5 (Rasheed Yusuf 63). ST PAT'S: Joseph Anang 6; Ryan McLaughlin 6, Tom Grivosti 7, Joe Redmond 7, Jay McClelland 8 (Chris Forrester 79); Kian Leavy 8 (Al-Amin Kazeem 88), Barry Bagley 7, Jamie Lennon 7; Simon Power 6 (Anto Breslin 79), Mason Melia 8 (Aidan Keena 72), Jake Mulraney 5 (Zach Elbouzedi 46). REFEREE: Mads Kristoffersen (Denmark) Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email .
