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Historic 70th Irish underage cap for Lee O'Connor

Historic 70th Irish underage cap for Lee O'Connor
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Lee O'Connor became the first man to make 70 underage appearances for Ireland last night as the U-21 side defeated Luxembourg 2-0 in a European Championship qualifier.

O'Connor started at right back for Jim Crawford's men, as goals from Joshua Kayode and Conor Coventry were enough to see them take all three points at Tallaght Stadium.

O'Connor is the record appearance holder for Ireland at underage level, with the former Manchester United and Villa man having also made a senior debut before even playing senior football at club level.

The 21-year-old is currently on loan at Tranmere Rovers for a second consecutive season, having made the move to Celtic from Manchester.

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He is yet to make a senior appearance for the Parkhead side but has impressed on loan at both Tranmere and Partick Thistle.

Ireland U-21 manager Jim Crawford says Lee is a stalwart of Irish underage football.

“Lee’s been an amazing stalwart at underage football, I was just told today that he was approaching his 70th cap, which is fantastic. It speaks volumes for the player to earn that many caps at that level.”

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