THE LATEST MOVE in Cillian Sheridan’s storied career has started on the right foot, with the Irish striker dazzling on his Wellington Phoenix FC debut.
The 29-year-old Cavan native signed for the New Zealand outfit last Wednesday, two days after leaving Polish club Jagiellonia Bialystok.
Wellington Phoenix ply their trade in Australia’s Hyundai A-League and were 3-2 winners against Western Sydney Wanderers at ANZ Stadium as Sheridan made his bow.
Sprung from the bench with 63 minutes on the clock and the scoreboard reading 1-1, he had an impact straight away and played a key role in both of Roy Krishna’s goals.
There was no shortage of classy touches from Sheridan as he caught the eye from near and far, setting up both efforts and steering his new side to victory.
He played a perfectly weighted pass into Krishna’s path as the Fijyan striker found the back of the net in the 82nd minute, before Western Sydney equalised just after.
In the final minute, Sheridan produced an assist to the assist, if you like, the former Celtic forward coming through with a deft back flick to send Max Burgess on his way to cross.
The three-time capped Ireland international dazzled throughout despite picking up a yellow card and garnered plenty of attraction for his efforts.
PLAYER SIGNING | Wellington Phoenix Sign Republic of Ireland International.
— Wellington Phoenix (@WgtnPhoenixFC) January 2, 2019
Welcome to Wellington Cillian - It's great to have you with the #Nix!
Read more here 👉 https://t.co/iqua57HPyD#StandUpWithYourNix #CreateHistory #PlayerSigning pic.twitter.com/c9A8Mjnhbr
“Sheridan shines in battle of new recruits to spark Phoenix win,” reads a headline on A-League.com, while the New Zealand Herald’s Jason Pine wrote: “Wellington’s new Irish striker Cillian Sheridan made himself an instant hero, arriving impressively off the bench.”
“Cillian when he came on was fantastic, he was flicking everything on, he set up the goal for Roy for the second one and had a role to play for the third as well,” Phoenix skipper Andrew Durante told Fox Sports afterwards.
“For him to be a new face in the team is fantastic.”
And there was a lot of love for the Cavan man on Twitter, with Wellington fans more than pleased with their new recruit.
The man of the moment even got involved when it was pointed out that former Premier League player Robbie Slater continually referred to him as ‘Shepherd’ on co-commentary.
“Mr. Slattery knows,” Sheridan wrote. “Don’t be the sheep, be the Shepherd.”
Brilliant.
Mr. Slattery knows. Don’t be the sheep, be the Shepherd https://t.co/s3NFWM4Hss
— Cillian Sheridan (@CillianSheridan) January 8, 2019
— Adam Clare (@adamururoa) January 8, 2019
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