Irish Abroad: Arter impresses & merits inclusion

By Ed Leahy | Updated: Tuesday, 24 Mar 2015 10:04 | Comments

Harry Arter celebrates his midweek goal against Cardiff

Harry Arter was the only new face in Martin O'Neill's provisional 35-man squad for Sunday's vital EURO 2016 qualifying clash with Poland at the Aviva Stadium.

So it was no surprise that the Bournemouth midfielder survived the small cull as O'Neill reduced the squad to 29 ahead of meeting up in Dublin on Sunday evening.

But if the manager was in any doubt of what Arter might bring to the table, he just needed to cast an eye over the midfielder's performance at the weekend when the Cherries returned to the top of the Championship with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over fellow contenders and in-form side Middlesbrough.

Arter was instrumental throughout and had a healthy involvement in all three goals, which perfectly summed up what Arter's game is all about.

The opening goal came from a moment of Arter brilliance, turning defence into attack with a first-time, pin-point, over-the-top ball down the left flank to get in behind the Middlesbrough defence, which led to a penalty being conceded.

Bournemouth's third was another spot kick, this time garnered from an Arter darting dribble into the box, where he drew the foul and hit the deck, cleverly perhaps,  from the mistimed challenge.

But the pièce de résistance was the second of the three and something that Arter has become renowned for this season as he unleashed an unstoppable left-footed effort from 25-yards, leaving the fully stretched Boro keeper with no chance, the ball curling away from the keeper before nestling in the top corner.

The strike was sublime and was Arter's eighth of the season, and his fifth from outside the box, which is one of the best records throughout the English leagues and something that will certainly give the Ireland manager some food for thought for Sunday's encounter.

And the Ireland boss will have a full week to work with his team ahead of Sunday evening's clash, a rarity in modern international football, which will give O'Neill the chance to get a really good assessment of Arter and the other 28, before naming his side.

Arter is unlikely to be named in the starting midfield for Sunday as the manager has many options with most of his selection fit, ready and playing for their clubs ahead of the Poland clash, with the exception of Jeff Hendrick who was omitted from the final squad due to an injury he picked up recently at Derby County.

James McCarthy will, no doubt, be first on that team-sheet and the lively Everton midfielder looks back to his best and appears to have put recent injury issues behind him.

McCarthy was badly missed by a struggling Everton side who find themselves languishing at the wrong end of the table, however, another solid performance by McCarthy and midfield partner Darren Gibson, who was involved in the winning goal, earned the Toffees a valuable away win at QPR.

Fellow Everton midfielder Aiden McGeady was fit and available having recovered from a knee injury, however, the winger was not named in the match-day squad for the trip to Loftus Road.

Staying in the midfield department, the Ireland boss will have been pleased to see all three Hull City selections feature against league leaders Chelsea on Sunday.

David Meyler started the game and put in a decent graft trying to contain the quality of the Chelsea midfield as his side fought back gamely from a 2-0 defecit with just ten minutes on the clock.

Meyler was replaced with ten minutes remaining and was replaced by compatriot Stephen Quinn, while the Ireland boss would have been delighted to see another sub arrive on to the pitch with ten minutes to go as Robbie Brady was introduced, although neither could help the Tigers get back on level terms as Chelsea won 3-2.

The Ireland boss has previously indicated that he was more likely to use Wes Hoolahan at the Aviva rather than an away fixture and O'Neill must surely have been keeping tabs on Ireland's most creative option as his club form has been excellent in recent weeks.

Hoolahan was again the Norwich playmaker in Saturday's 3-1 victory over Nottingham Forest and chipped in with a goal, converting from the penalty spot as the Canaries maintain their late charge for automatic promotion.

Glenn Whelan and James McClean are the other midfielders in the Ireland squad but neither featured at club level over the weekend.

With the MLS season in its infancy, record Ireland goalscorer Robbie Keane must be feeling fit and fresh ahead of the Poland game and handed his manager the perfect reason to pick him with his fine individual effort at the weekend when he scored against Owen Coyle's Houston Dynamo.

Keane picked up the ball in his own half (what he was doing there is anyone's guess) and ran through on goal, dancing past the odd defender or two en route to slotting the ball home past the advancing keeper. But don't take my word for it...

With the MLS a lot more accessible in these parts this season, and quickly becoming a Sunday night staple on the tele-box, Keane has been viewed in high definition and away from dodgy internet streams.

And while the former Spurs striker does go missing for chunks of the game, his movement on and off the ball in and around the penalty box is still a joy to behold and something that will still play a big role in O'Neill's thinking ahead of Sunday's match.

Shane Long has bounced back from his punctured lung scenario by getting back into the Southampton starting XI and the former Hull striker grabbed the opener on Saturday with an instinctive finish as the Saints beat Burnley 2-0. Decisions, decisions for the Ireland boss, because he is unlikely to pick both, unless Long was asked to play a wide right role.

Daryl Murphy's goalscoring form at Ipswich this season has been well documented and while the former Celtic man failed to get on the score-sheet on Saturday, he was a constant threat and outlet as Ipswich grabbed a last-minute winner away from home against fellow promotion hopefuls Watford, albeit against the run of play as Tommie Hoban found himself on the losing side as they were hit on the counter at Vicarage Road.

Former Ireland regular Stephen Hunt didn't feature for Ipswich but he was first to the goalscorer to kick off the celebrations.

It proved a great week for Mick McCarthy's Tractor Boys as they returned to the top six after their second win in a week, following their 1-0 win over Bolton on St Patrick's Day, where Jay Tabb grabbed the only goal of the game.  

Face mask or no face mask, Jon Walters is sure to start against Poland and the big striker, who often finds himself on the right flank, played through the pain barrier on Saturday as he came on for the final 15 minutes on Saturday, nursing a broken cheekbone.

Stoke boss Mark Hughes said: "Jon will be OK for Ireland. He wasn't fit to play a full 90 here but felt positive about coming on."

Kevin Doyle remains in the 29-man squad but only managed a brief cameo for Wolves in their victory at the weekend as he prepares for a new career at the end of the season in Colorado's MLS outfit

Anthony Stokes is another who avoided the chop as O'Neill reduced his squad but the Celtic striker did not feature at the weekend as he was serving a suspension.

O'Neill's defensive options should cause plenty of debate in the coming days ahead of the Poland game, although the right back berth is certainly nailed down and its inhabitant Seamus Coleman was again causing havoc up and down the right wing for Everton at QPR.

Coleman opened the scoring with a shot that can only be described as, placed with power, as the right back ran on to a squared ball and sidefooted it into the far top corner. And the former Sligo Rovers man was up with the play for Everton's winner and ran on to Gibson's pass before crossing the ball, which Aaron Lennon dispatched.

The centre-half pairing offers O'Neill plenty of permutations with John O'Shea likely to pair up with Marc Wilson, although Ciaran Clark has shown great form for Aston Villa in recent weeks as they fared well in the cup and enjoyed a small bit of success in the league.

Clark has been a constant in the middle of the defence under new manager Tim Sherwood and was again in fine form at the weekend, clearing the ball off the line with the game delicately balanced at 0-0.

And scoreless it remained with just three minutes remaining, when, unfortunately for Clark, he was outmuscled and outpaced by Bafetimbi Gomis as they raced back to goal before the French man guided the ball home to secure the points for Swansea.

John O'Shea has just been named Ireland player of the year but is having a tough time of it at Sunderland as the Black Cats are just about keeping their heads above the relegation zone.

A new manager has been installed at the Stadium of Light and Saturday's overall performance will have shown plenty of potential, but as is the norm with clubs fighting for their lives, Sunderland were undone by a poor refereeing decision, which led to the only goal of the game coming from Diafra Sakho with two minutes remaining.

Sakho proved a real handful for O'Shea throughout this battling encounter but O'Shea had things under control until that final scenario when the ref failed to award a free out for an obvious foul, which led to O'Shea being drawn towards the ball, leaving Sakho momentarily unmarked, and the rest is history.

Paul McShane is another whose club form has improved in recent weeks and again put in a solid performance in an under-pressure Hull defence as they went down to the champions-elect.

Marc Wilson and Richard Keogh are both in with a shout of starting alongside John O'Shea in the middle of the defence and Keogh has had a very consistent season, although he was on the wrong end of a 2-0 defeat to Wolves at the weekend, while Stoke's Wilson also ended up on the losing side as he was out-jumped for a ball, which led to the winning goal in their 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace.

Cyrus Christie was also involved in that Derby defeat but is unlikely to threaten Coleman's place in the back four, while Alex Pearce was also named in the final 29 and while playing regularly at Reading, beaten 3-2 at the weekend, is unlikely to feature against Poland.

Stephen Ward is another coming into this international week with little game time under his belt at Burnley since returning from injury to a team where the manager is loath to make changes.

Ward has been a regular at left back under O'Neill but surely cannot feature against Poland with the left back role set to get many tongues wagging. Ciaran Clark or Marc Wilson can both play in that position, although don't be surprised to see Robbie Brady slot in, on the back of his performance against the USA at the end of last year, as well as the fact that the manager has spoken of the need to impress at home.

O'Neill has a big decision to make as to who takes the number one jersey for the Poland encounter, considering regular stopper David Forde has been conceding a lot at club level, playing for lowly Millwall, who currently reside in the relegation zone.

Four keepers remain in the final 29-man squad and while Keiren Westwood has been in fine form recently as Sheffield Wednesday consolidated their Championship mid-table position, he was beaten twice at the weekend. The first arrived from a deflected effort, which the Irish keeper could do little about, although Westwood will be disappointed to have been beaten at the near post for the second in their 3-2 away win at Rotherham.

Darren Randolph also conceded twice as Birmingham have perhaps taken their foot off the pedal recently as they are clear of relegation trouble but unable to make the play-offs. And Forde kept things consistent with his fellow Championship keepers, conceding twice as Millwall were pegged back by Brentford, who scored two goals in the last five minutes to deny the Lions a much-needed away win.

Shay Given spent the afternoon on the bench and may not see any more Aston Villa action until their next cup encounter, however, there is a strong possibility that the Ireland boss could go back to the former number one with the gloves for this must-win encounter.

It would be harsh on Forde, who has hardly put a foot or hand wrong when wearing the green, but would anyone really grumble to see an in-form Given back between the posts?

So looking beyond the Ireland squad, but remarkably staying in the Premier League, and Crystal Palace centre half Damien Delaney must be scratching his head about being left out of the senior selection.

The former Ipswich Town centre-half has played a big part as a rejuvenated Palace have all but secured their Premier League status with a well-earned away win at Stoke. Never an easy place to go and any team that escapes the Britannia with the points will have relied on a rock steady defence and that's what Delaney and his back line displayed on Saturday as they now find themselves in mid-table security just four points away from the magic number 40.

In the Championship, Alan Judge helped Brentford fight back for that 2-2 draw against Millwall as he was taken down for a penalty in the 85th minute with the score at 2-0. Jonathan Douglas also put in another decent shift for the Bees.

Eoin Doyle grabbed his first goal for Cardiff as the Bluebirds beat the Blues of Birmingham 2-0 with the former Shamrock Rovers striker finishing in style before getting taken down for a penalty to secure the points.

And Chris Hughton's Brighton appear to have clicked at the right time and they have moved well clear of the relegation zone after beating Blackburn at the weekend.

In League One, league leaders Bristol City took a week off to try to let the others catch up as Derrick Williams and Greg Cunningham were to be found down Wembley Way as they secured the Football League Trophy, beating Anthony Forde's Walsall 2-0 in front of 40,000 travelling City fans.

In League Two, former Ireland international Liam Lawrence bagged a brace as Shrewsbury stayed on course for promotion, beating Oxford 2-0. The first came from the spot, while the former Sunderland midfielder showed his class with the dead-ball as he curled home a 20-yard free to seal the win. Pat Hoban played for Oxford but has yet to find his goalscoring touch that helped Dundalk to the title last year.

Limerick man Damien McCrory kept leaders Burton on track for the title as he scored the opener in an impressive 4-1 away win at Tranmere. The Staffordshire side are almost certain of automatic promotion as they have a nine-point lead on fourth-placed Bury.

Padraig Amond was back on the score-sheet as he grabbed a penalty in Morecambe's 1-1 draw away at Carlisle, while fellow former Sligo Rover Sean Maguire helped Accrington Stanley to a 2-2 draw with York with a well-taken effort.

Graham Cummins got a late winner as Exeter moved closer to the play-offs as they beat Cheltenham 2-1

In Scotland, Adam Rooney is making sure that Martin O'Neill remembers his name as he bagged another for Aberdeen in their 1-1 away draw with Dundee. The Dons remain second in the league, five points behind leaders Celtic.

Back to the MLS and if Sean St Ledger is hoping to get back involved with the Ireland set-up, he is going to have to enjoy a good season at new club Orlando City. Game time is paramount on that front, but the former Leicester City defender was an unused sub at the weekend as his side lost 1-0 to Vancouver Whitecaps.

Andy Keogh's Perth Glory sit fourth in the A League ladder after a 1-1 draw with the Central Coast Mariners. Keogh played the full 90 but failed to find the back of the net, while Cillian Sheridan also drew a blank in his side's 2-2 draw with Apollon Limassol.

And finally, in Denmark there was no sign of Kevin Foley in Copehagen's line-up for their 1-1 draw with Randers but one name that did stand out was captain Thomas Delaney, a midfielder of Irish-American descent.

Granny rule or no granny rule, the FAI have missed the boat on that one as the 23-year-old has already played for the Denmark senior side in a World Cup qualifier.

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