SHANE DUFFY’S NIGHTMARE start to the season seems a distant memory as the big defender scored his first goal for Brighton in their 3-2 win over Blackburn Rovers last night.
Ireland international Duffy had three own-goals and a red card to his name after the opening four games of the campaign with Rovers before earning a £4 million (€4.7m) move to the Seagulls in August.
Since then, the 24-year-old has been an ever-present at the heart of the Brighton defence as Chris Hughton’s side once again push for that elusive promotion to the top flight.
Booed by the home supporters on his return to Ewood Park, Duffy put the visitors ahead with a powerful header on 16 minutes and he was glad to finally open his account for his new club.
“I think it was coming, unfortunately it was against Blackburn but I’m delighted to get off the mark, and obviously the three points are most important,” Duffy told the club’s website.
“I was disappointed that I hadn’t scored yet, because it’s something that I’ve tried adding to my game and I’ve been close in the last couple of weeks.
“I just had a feeling that it might be the night. The first chance I got, I stuck it away, and hopefully that’s me up and running.”
On the frosty reception from Rovers fans, he added:”It’s football at the end of the day. I’ve no hard feelings against them. They were giving me some, I just gave it back.”
Fellow Irishman Daragh Lenihan started in defence for Owen Coyle’s men, while Anthony Stokes and Jack Byrne were unused subsitutes. Meanwhile, Richie Towell didn’t make the squad for the away team despite impressing for their U23s in recent weeks.
The victory saw Brighton climb two points above Hughton’s former club Newcastle United at the summit of the Championship table, although the Magpies can reclaim top spot with a win away to Wigan Athletic tonight.
Duffy knows it’s still early days in the title race but they have positioned themselves well to make another genuine challenge for the automatic promotion spots having narrowly missed out on a couple of occasions in recent years.
It’s great that we’ve got so many players that can come in, so credit to the manager for getting this squad together,” he added.
“There’s still a long way to go, we’ve just got to keep winning our games. It’s nice to be up there, but tomorrow we might be off the top again.”
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
What an achievement . Some great stuff to look for
Delighted. Was a great decision by the IRFU/Nucifora to start taking the 7′s seriously and hopefully now can qualify for the Olympics. COYBIG.
@Elliott Sheerin: It was a questionable decision why it took them so long to get involved in the first place. We were conspicuous by our absence.
@thegreatdefector: And it appears to be to the detriment of the Wolfhounds which is unfortunate.
@thegreatdefector: true but that was decision made by the Irfu before nuciforas time. He brought it back
What an achievement from this 7’s side. In the space of 4 years coming from the lowest levels of 7’s rugby to now having the opportunity to mix it up with the big boys on the biggest stage is an outstanding feat. Everyone behind the scenes deserves a incredible amount of credit for getting this great bunch of players to the top end of 7’s rugby. Conroy is a special talent he’ll give the Fijians, New Zealanders etc some major headaches. On a side note a uplifting day for the Leavy family too, Dan will be so proud of his younger brother. Another Irish team to be very proud of.
@Ian Verdon: well said!
@Ian Verdon: couldn’t have said it better myself. Some fantastic players on that team. They were solid throughout in what is a very difficult tournament. Some set of wheels on Conroy, can’t wait to see them against the big boys.
Fantastic achievement after years of grafting and the heartbreak of a last-minute qualifier loss in 2018. The Irish team showed real resilience to overcome a very physical German team in the semi-finals and great defence in the final.
The World Sevens Series is a great watch, even without Ireland in it, so it’s good to see us join the party while creating more opportunities for players to play rugby professionally in Ireland.
Can we now have a domestic program put in place to develop kids please. No underage competitors for youths currently.
@kieran horgan: lovely idea but where do you get coaching resources from and how are you going to manage the conflict at club level where clubs are struggling to fill underage sides at 15.
@Michael Murray: from what I see of clubs at home a lot of underage competitions finish in March. Why not use rest of March and April to play provincial 7s competitions and perhaps end it with an All Ireland 7s festival to go alongside the Kinsale 7s on May bank holiday if there was room there.
@Brendan ‘fox’ O’ Sullivan: was gonna say this. A lot of people play league in the off-season in order to keep playing rugby. 7s is far more entertaining than league and could easily overtake it as a summer time game.
@Brendan ‘fox’ O’ Sullivan: March April May or else play festivals during summer. Plenty of options.
@Michael Murray: How many clubs are struggling to field at 15s level? 7s should be used to develop players as well and could be excellent way in Dublin for clubs to keep ties with kids who normally while in secondary school if in likes of Blackrock, Terenure etc will rarely play club rugby if ever
Deadly!!
Great result for Ireland, will be brilliant to see them play on the big stage from next year. Here is hoping they continue to develop the 7s game with the provincial academies in Ireland. They will need to develop a strong squad to last through a full season. I remember seeing Adam Byrne play a 7s tournament in Dubai a few years ago he was immense, the 7s can really be beneficial for young players. Have been to the Dubai 7s twice and it is a brilliant weekend Hong Kong is definitely on the bucket list
@Brendan ‘fox’ O’ Sullivan: Do you think the IRFU will push for Dublin to be a host nation sometime in the future. It seems like a tournament that would be well received and attended in Dublin for the Irish and the visitors.
@David Staed: I think the cities for the next 3 year’s have been locked in but definitely after that. I watch a lot of 7s and atmosphere looks great in each city it goes to.
Forward to now with the World Series
Such a tight game against Germany and then a bit of a mismatch in the final!
Well done lads.
@gavin cooney , lazy journalism for your description under the articles picture . The “teammate” in question is Harry McNulty a player who has been there from the very beginning hence why I would imagine he is so emotional, he also scored in the game .
@Luke O’Mahony: you spelt Foster Horan wrong
Ireland should put more focus on the 7s, its an Olympic sport and given our long history of failure at 15 a side rugby on a global level maybe we need to take a fresh approach. Next aim for these guys is Olympic qualification which is actually very difficult given the system that is in place. It would help if England could make it into the top 4 of the World Series as we wouldnt have to compete against them for the only European spot but the likelihood is that we will be up against themselves, France and Spain for that spot as well as teams like Germany and Russia
@Frank Scanlon: Frank, Ireland have a long history, over 100 years, of success in what you call 15 a side rugby.
@Locojoe: I said success on a global level, please point out what Ireland have achieved on a global scale in 15 a side rugby? Never made it beyond World Cup quarter finals, the only major rugby playing nation never to do so, even Argentina which could hardly be considered a rugby nation have made a couple of semis. Our record is embarassing. Better to invest in 7s from the ground up, get more kids playing it instead of 15 a side, its far better to watch anyway and maybe we might win something
@Frank Scanlon: so making a quarter final in a World Cup isn’t an achievement? You do know only 4 country’s have ever one the World Cup in its entire history, as well as Guinness Book of Records proving New Zealand are the most dominant team of any professional sport in the world.
I can remember when i was younger i wanted to play it but there was literally nothing in place. It looked like a good challenge but i was the only person i knew who wanted to play
Found this link to the match https://youtu.be/bJNnECd-iBk
@Accounting Pro: sorry this is better https://youtu.be/DEyBc5YjxKQ