Irish football fans were absolutely delighted to see Seanie Maguire officially get up and running in the Championship with his first league goal in English football on Saturday, after weeks of questioning why Martin O'Neill was reluctant to give him a look in the senior national team.
As happy as those who know how badly Ireland need a man capable of scoring were, Preston North End fans were obviously delighted too especially considering how happy they have been with his performances so far. The only thing that was missing was a goal.
When he took his chance he did so with aplomb and was named man of the match by the Preston sponsors, and all of the fans who were asked to give their opinion to the Lancashire Evening Post for their 'PNE Fan Panel Verdict' made room to praise Maguire for his performance.
One of them even revealed a complimentary yet bizarre nickname for the former Cork City man.
Our goal came from Sean Maguire, a player who has been dubbed the Irish Diego Costa by a small section of our fans and he showed he also had the predatory strikers instinct similar to that of the Chelsea forward when he finished off a fine move and headed us in front midway through the first half. The Irishman was awarded the man of the match by the sponsors a view I shared as he was a constant pest to the Barnsley defence throughout the game.
The Irish Diego Costa? Presuming it's a nod to his tenacity and aggression in retrieving the ball and his ability to finish all types of chances, we're liking it.
Although it could be that he's great fun on the training ground but nobody can understand what he's saying, it's hard to tell.
The next fan on the panel predicted many more goals to follow after getting off the mark.
The absence of Johnson and Pearson in the engine room was probably the deciding factor in North End only claiming a point. Nevertheless there were many positives from the game, not least of which was the first league goal for Sean Maguire in a North End shirt and I genuinely believe there is so much more to come from the man from Cork.
Similarly, the final fan to offer their review acknowledged that he was unlucky not to have netted already and the goal was something that had been coming.
Preston took the lead in the 23rd minute after some good build-up play on the left wing by Tom Barkhuizen led to a cross that was neatly headed into the bottom right hand corner by Sean Maguire. It was just reward for his first goal in English football, with him being a shade unlucky in previous matches.
It sounds like he has made a really positive impact in his short time at the club.
He would have had a lot of pressure on him heading over to England with the reputation he earned for himself at Cork City, and his first Championship goal does not mean he has 'made it', but he has made the transition look comfortable and has won the fans over already, which is all that we could of asked for.
Hopefully clips of Maguire's goals are something you'll see with regularity on Balls.ie this season.
[via LEP.co.uk]
