Christmas comes early for Hoops with goalkeeper signings

Christmas has come early for Shamrock Rovers with the signing of two goalkeepers. Former FC Santa Claus goalkeeper Tomer Chencinski and Galway United ‘keeper Kevin Horgan have joined the Hoops.

Chencinski is an Israeli-born, 32-year-old much-travelled ‘keeper. He has been playing most recently in Sweden with Helsingborgs, where he made 19 league appearances last season as Henrik Larsson's side were relegated from the Swedish top flight via a relegation play-off.

Prior to that he played in Finland with RoPS (who eliminated Rovers in Europa League qualifying earlier this year) and went on loan to FC Santa Claus. Both Finnish clubs play in Rovaniemi, home to the Santa Claus Village on the Arctic Circle.

Meanwhile Rovers have also signed Galway United’s under 19 captain Kevin Horgan, who is the brother of Daryl and Colm Horgan.

Chencinski

“We're delighted to sign Tomer Chencinski,” said Rovers Head Coach Stephen Bradley.

“We've been working hard on this one for the past few weeks now, and he’s a player that we’ve been really keen to get. He has played in a lot of good leagues and he has a lot of experience.

“He's an international goalkeeper and a very good goalkeeper all round. He's very comfortable on the ball at his feet, which is good. He's a really great addition and he'll bring a calm influence to the back four."

Capped once at international level by Canada in 2013, Chencinski was born in Israel before moving to north America as a child. Having begun his professional career with MLS side Toronto, where he failed to make a first team appearance, subsequently his career has taken him to Moldova (with Nistru Otaci), America (Harrisburg City Islanders in the United Soccer League) and Finland (VPS) in 2011.

The following year he played with Orebro in the Swedish top flight before moving to Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2013. He failed to nail down a first team place and was sent out on loan on to Ramat Gan and Ramat HaSharon – teams who both currently play below the top tier of Israeli football.

Horgan

“(I’m) thrilled to sign here for the biggest club in Ireland,” said Kevin Horgan. “I’m really excited about the future here. I met Stephen Bradley and Stephen McPhail together and they really sold the idea to me about the development here at Rovers and the youth structure.,” said Horgan.

“The club hasn’t won as much as it should have in the last few years, so I came here to win things with Shamrock Rovers. I’m really looking forward to playing in front of the fans. They travel everywhere and they always give great support. I want to become number one for Rovers.”

Rovers number 1

Stephen Bradley noted both goalkeepers will be battling it out to be the number one at the club.

“Kevin is a really good goalkeeper. I’ve seen him feature a lot for Galway Under 19s and the senior side. I’ve been really impressed with what I’ve seen. He’s very young and has the right attitude so we could see Kevin feature for Rovers for the next few years.

“With these signings we’ll have an older, more experienced goalkeeper in Tomer, battling it out with Kevin for the number one spot, and it’s totally up to them to make it their own.

“The desire to win something is back in the squad. It hasn’t been there the last few years. We have to make sure the players know that finishing fourth is not acceptable. We have to win trophies!

“Our squad for 2017 is getting there now, the two goalkeepers were the main position we needed to strengthen so we're really happy we've got who we wanted. We're one or two more away from fully complete.”