FORMER REPUBLIC OF Ireland international Wes Hoolahan made his long-awaited A-League debut for the Newcastle Jets this morning (Irish time) as his compatriot, Roy O’Donovan, scored in the New South Wales club’s 1-1 draw with Melbourne Victory.
Hoolahan, 37, signed with the Jets as far back as last August but his debut campaign Down Under was dealt a hammer blow a month later when he underwent surgery after suffering major ligament and cartilage damage in his ankle.
Having missed the winter — or Australian summer — in its entirety, the 43-time-capped former Ireland playmaker finally took to the field for the Jets today, coming on as a substitute for midfielder Angus Thurgate, 17 years his junior.
Hoolahan’s impact was almost immediate, his dinked pass in behind the Victory defence finding Matthew Millar who was denied a penalty following a challenge by Melbourne’s Adama Traore.
Despite a frenetic finish, the game finished 1-1, Ola Toivonen equalising for Victory after Cork man O’Donovan had opened the scoring for the Jets.
Roy the boy! Our Irishman scores his first goal for the Club (his 21st in total) since his return to put us into the lead! #NEWvMVC #ALeague #MadeOfNewcastle pic.twitter.com/neBtYbY9CJ
— NEWCASTLE JETS FC ✈️ (@NewcastleJetsFC) February 22, 2020
The former Cork City and Sunderland striker, 34, previously played for the Jets between 2017 and 2019, and this was his first goal since rejoining the club from Robbie Fowler’s Brisbane Roar.
The Jets are currently second from bottom in the A-League table, followed only by one of O’Donovan’s other former clubs, the Central Coast Mariners.
Today’s result marked four games unbeaten for the strugglers, albeit three of them have been draws.
Andy Dunne and Murray Kinsella join Gavan Casey to tee you up for Sunday’s big one. The lads try to figure out where the winning and losing of the game will be, field a The42 member’s question as to what extent the media plays a role in Ireland’s performance, and Andy explains why Henry Tuilagi haunts his dreams at night.
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
