Talented Douglas native Harry Nevin makes his mark for the Irish soccer team

LEESIDER Harry Nevin was the match-winner for the Ireland U16 soccer team this week.

The former Douglas Hall and current Cork City player hit net in his Irish debut, a 1-0 defeat of Tanzania in the Aegean Cup in Turkey.

Paul Osam's squad face the hosts on Friday and Kosova on Sunday.

Nevin, a pupil in St Francis College in Rochestown, is a gifted athlete in a number of codes.

He has won numerous medals as a hurdler for Leevale, led Douglas footballers to Féile glory and was named as Player of the Match two years ago when the Cork U14 hurlers beat Kilkenny in the Tony Forristal final.

He would have been a candidate to feature on Donal Óg Cusack's Cork minor hurling panel this year but opted to pursue his options on the soccer front. His excellence with Leevale also has him on the radar of US colleges.

Three other young Cork soccer aces will be in action this weekend with the Irish U15s face Australia at Abbotstown. 

Cork City's Cathal Heffernan and Joe O'Brien Whitmarsh along with College Corinthians' Liam Murray are in the squad, who will fly to Murcia, Spain at the end of the month for a three-game tournament against the host nation, The Netherlands and Czech Republic.

Heffernan, the son of former Irish athletes Rob and Marian Heffernan, is another teenager who excelled on the GAA front with Blackrock and St Michael's, as well as representing Cork in the Primary Games three years ago, before opting for soccer.