FORMER CORK CITY defender Kevin O’Connor has made his Preston North End debut this evening, starting against Accrington Stanley in the first round of the League Cup.
O’Connor signed for the English outfit last month, linking up with a strong Irish contingent at the club.
His ex-Cork City and now Preston teammate Seanie Maguire made his competitive debut for the side against Sheffield Wednesday over the weekend.
Ex-Dundalk duo Daryl Horgan and Andy Boyle both started alongside O’Connor this evening, while Maguire and Alan Browne were introduced from the bench.
The game ended 3-2 after late, late drama.
Accrington took the lead through a Ben Richards-Everton strike in the 20th minute, while Jordan Hugill pulled one back for the visitors with 72 minutes on the clock.
With four minutes of normal time remaining, Accrington edged 2-1 up, before a frantic three minutes of added time.
Hugill added his second, getting on the end of a Maguire cross to level matters. But Billy Kee had the final say as he helped his side to a 3-2 win.
- This piece was updated at full-time.
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Listen to this man. Commanded the football pitch like a rugby ref. Gave players the brow and they shut up which is the way it should be.
Sinister how he had to leave so early.
@Quoka: how was it sinister, he hit the age limit and had to call it a day
@Fear Uisce: not true. he signed a sponsorship deal with opel. disagreement with Italian football and he resigned.
@Fear Uisce: They increased the age limit to accommodate him for an extra season, he signed a contract of more than half a million euros, and then a ‘conflict of interest’ accusation was raised against him because of a shared sponsorship deal so he was shipped out of top flight games – so he retired. Google it.
Also, regardless of all this, he was capable of refereeing at the highest level and was a breath of fresh air so should have been allowed to.
@Quoka: so when you say “sinister how he had to leave so early” you mean he retired a few months early, after the Italian FA had raised the age limit specifically for him, due to a potential conflict of interests arising from having a sponsorship deal with Opel who sponsored AC Milan at the time.
This from the man who gave England a penalty for the blatant dive of Michael Owen against Argentina. Even Lineker said he was embarrassed by it.
@GARFARKLE: and this defines his entire career? Negates everything else?
I’d hate to work for you
@reg gordon: Not at all. He was a very good referee but not perfect.
So if the keeper steps off the line for a penalty but the player scores will the penalty be retaken?
I don’t think too many are disagreeing with the points he makes. However he doesn’t mention the real big controversy of now awarding a penalty for ball-to-hand and, worse still, even when the ball is struck from as near as two meters. I pity these girls in the World Cup. They are a breath of fresh air to watch. There is no constant slogging against massed defences. There are no particularly defensive outfits which gives more open play, more attacking and even mistakes all of which are enjoyable to watch. I’d love to hear Collina’s honest opinion on this new penalty rule.