Tom's Totally Irrelevant Trivia: Padraig Amond's goals against one goalkeeper across three decades

Brendan Clarke

Brendan Clarke Credit: Eddie Lennon (ETPhotos)

Aaaannndddd we're back with some more wild, possibly not so wonderful and most definitely odd pieces of trivia from the past weekend.

Cian Coleman's winner for Cork City against UCD means that it's now six league goals since the City skipper scored a league goal outside Munster. Even the one non-league goal he scored (last season's Play Off) was against a Munster side! For those wondering, the Athlone Stadium in September 2017 was the scene of Cobh Ramblers’ 1-0 victory courtesy of Coleman.

Success Edogun stayed on the scoresheet once again this weekend for Finn Harps, his third in a row. It's the third consecutive season where he's found the net in an Athlone Town game – Friday's strike added to September's goal for Treaty United in their 4-1 win over The Midlanders. In 2022, he actually scored for Athlone Town against Treaty early in the season before joining the Shannonsiders later in the campaign.

During Treaty United's last six league wins, there have been four penalties awarded – the two during the last three wins of 2023 were converted by Marc Ludden (who had a 100% penalty conversion rate for the Limerick side) while both awarded in 2024 were missed. Enda Curran's miss against UCD was only the second time he'd ever failed to hit the net from the spot for Treaty in the league while Ryan Kelliher’s effort over the bar in the closing moments of the Kerry game last week was the Kingdom native’s first senior spot kick.

Conor Kearns has now kept 3 consecutive league clean sheets in his past three visits to the Showgrounds. Last weekend and August both saw 1-0 Shelbourne wins, while in May 2023 the Reds won 3-0- Kearns playing 90 minutes in all three encounters.

Shelbourne's matchwinner John O’Sullivan’s goal was his first time to find the net since a 3-2 win over Dundalk in July and, ironically, previous to Friday's caution it was also the last time the Dubliner had received a yellow card. With his only other Premier Division goal coming at The Showgrounds in 2022 it means that two thirds of league strikes have arrived at the Jinks Avenue site.

Danny Mullen’s first Premier Division goal of 2023 occurred with Rob Harvey as the referee on the same night Shelbourne beat Sligo Rovers 1-0. On Friday night, Mullen netted his first goal of the 2024 campaign on the same evening Shels took all three points from The Showgrounds and Harvey was in charge of the Derry City v St Patrick's Athletic game.

Last weekend Pádraig Amond scored his first Premier Division goal since returning to the league after a 13 year spell away. Netminder on the night was the youngest top flight keeper this season, Andrew Wogan who was born in December 2005, mere months before Amond made his League of Ireland debut for Shamrock Rovers.

This weekend Carlovian Amond found the net again and this time it was the oldest goalkeeper in the league who conceded. Currently 38 years of age, Galway United custodian Brendan Clarke was only 24 when then Sligo Rovers striker Amond last found the net against him, after scoring in March 2010 against Clarke's Sporting Fingal.

Having also scored in the 2009 League Cup for Shamrock Rovers against St Patrick's Athletic, it means Amond has scored against Clarke in three different decades for three different clubs.



About Tom O'Connor

Dundalk based reporter following the league since Monaghan United’s goalless draw against Athlone Town in 1996. Special interest in education and underage football. Shortlisted for the 2018 FAI Communications Award for series on Life beyond … View Full Profile