GAVIN KILKENNY was a contented man after helping Ireland U21s beat Luxembourg on Friday night.
The technically accomplished Bournemouth midfielder put in a solid display as Jim Crawford’s side played in front of a home Tallaght crowd for the first time in nearly two years.
“I thought we started slowly. We got the goal in the first half and we grew into it a lot more. The second half was more like us. Obviously, Jim at half-time wanted a bit more and I think we knew that ourselves. We were a lot better than we showed although we were still 1-0 up, we could have pushed on more, but we’ll take 2-0.
“The early goal was crucial and they need to come out a little bit. And then the second goal kills the game off, then at that stage, we can get three or four. I think it’s just patience and if we can get a balance of trying to bring them out and not get caught with counter-attacks. I think we dealt with that quite well, they only looked dangerous on one or two set pieces and other than that, just sloppy errors.”
Kilkenny has formed an impressive partnership at the base of midfield with Conor Coventry, the West Ham youngster currently on loan with Championship side Peterborough.
The pair have started together in all three of Ireland’s qualifiers so far in this campaign, and the Dubliner acknowledges their growing understanding of one another on the field.
“We’re very close off the pitch so that helps us. We see the game in the same way. We complement each other and know each other. If he does something I know what to do and vice versa, that just helps us as a team. In the middle of the park, we need that that we both sing off the same hymn sheet.”
After doubts in relation to Montenegro’s red-list status in the UK and Germany, it was confirmed on Saturday that Kilkenny and the majority of the squad would be available to make the trip for Ireland’s upcoming qualifier on Tuesday.
Speaking on Friday, Kilkenny was already confident that would be the case.
“Bournemouth have been saying to me since maybe the day before I came in that it looks like I’d be able to go because of the double vaccination,” he explained. “That’s how I understand it. They weren’t 100% sure but talking to the secretary Alice, she’s been helping me out. But I think they found out in the last couple of days.
“I don’t know the full rules, to be honest, I’m still learning what it will be. As players we were concentrating on his game, we had a little thing about it last night just to kind of put the players at ease. I think it looks like we’re all going, that’s a relief.
“We’re a tight group, it would have been horrible if a couple of us could go and others couldn’t. I think it’s much better. It’s an extended group but that’s even better. More competition so I think we’re delighted we can go.”
Not every squad member will travel, though. Tyreik Wright misses out after picking up an injury against Luxembourg, while Sam Blair, Kameron Ledwidge, Oisin McEntee and Louie Watson have also returned to their clubs.
Consequently, eight of the backup home-based players who were called up by Crawford on Thursday have remained with the squad and travelled to Podgorica. Kilkenny has no concerns about the new players’ ability to integrate with the rest of the squad in such a short space of time.
“Anyone that is called in is obviously a good player. It will be a different team and it will take a couple of days in training to gel. But everybody knows each other, we’ve come through the ages together so that shouldn’t be a problem. We’re all playing on a decent level so it shouldn’t be a problem or an excuse.”
