Daryl Horgan and Shane Duffy had very different experiences of Saturday’s Championship clash between Preston North End and Brighton.
The Irishmen lined out opposite one another in what was Horgan’s first ever start for new club Preston and the former Dundalk winger enjoyed his afternoon considerably more than Duffy did.
In front of the watchful gaze of Republic of Ireland assistant manager Roy Keane, Horgan played a starring role as he set up Preston’s second of the day with a sumptuous through-ball.
Preston boss Simon Grayson heaped praise on the 24-year-old after the game and his comments would suggest that Horgan has a bright future with the Championship outfit.
His contribution was marked with a standing ovation as he was substituted in the dying moments.
90' Second sub of the afternoon sees Horgan make way to a standing ovation, he's replaced by Spurr.#pnefc 2-0
— Preston North End FC (@pnefc) January 14, 2017
“To play the full 90 minutes is brilliant, but to also beat top of the table, comprehensively as well is great,” Horgan told Preston’s club website after the game.
“Callum did brilliantly for his goal; Bruno is a very experienced player but he tucked it away to put us in a very strong position and thankfully we held off for the rest of the game. Maybe we could have had one or two more but we did well.
“At the start of the game, we had lots of chances and managed to open them up a few times, but sometimes you just need a set piece and for a centre half to knock it in and thankfully we got that.”
Horgan was called up to the Republic of Ireland squad last November but has yet to make an appearance for his country, although Keane will be reporting back to Martin O’Neill with nothing but positive feedback on the young playmaker, who so nearly got on the scoresheet this weekend.
“That would have been brilliant to score,” Horgan added.
Absolute 🔥 https://t.co/JQFOUX03fz
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) January 14, 2017
“But ultimately it’s a great win for us and a clean sheet, it propels us further up the table and puts us in a stronger position to push for a Play-Off place.
“It was never going to be easy against them with them being top of the table but thankfully we got the result and we can look ahead to Villa now.”
Unfortunately for his international compatriot Duffy, who was lining out for Brighton, there was not much in the way of positive takeaways from Saturday but, as should be expected of a professional like himself, he reacted to the defeat with nothing but class.
Disappointed about today, how we react now big game Friday to try put things right. Great travelling support again 👏🔵⚪️ @OfficialBHAFC
— Shane Duffy (@shaneduffy) January 14, 2017
