Mark O’Mahony opened up his Brighton & Hove Albion account by scoring and getting an assist for the club during a 3-2 defeat to West Ham in Premier League 2 on Monday night.

The striker, who moved to England in January from Cork City, set up Josh Duffus to pull a goal back and he scored one himself in the dying seconds at Rush Green in London.

O’Mahony featured alongside Irish underage internationals Matt Everitt, Jamie Mullins and Leigh Kavanagh.

When they found themselves trailing 2-0 midway through the second half, the striker sent the ball to Duffus and he finished neatly past the West Ham goalkeeper. 

The scorer set up Brighton’s second of the evening as he ran down the by-line before pulling it back so O’Mahony could finish in the third minute of added time. 

The squad’s attention now turns to a league game with Wolverhampton Wanderers and then they will take on Spanish side Valencia in the quarter finals of the Premier League International Cup.

This is one of the most prestigious tournaments in underage football as it sees developmental squads from England take on continental sides from some of the best leagues in Europe. 

The Premier League International Cup has previously been won by Manchester City, Porto, Bayern Munich, and Villareal with Brighton now looking to add their name to that list.

O’Mahony has made one appearance so far in the competition, and that was during a 1-0 loss to Sparta Prague at the beginning of February.

The striker isn’t the only player from Cork dreaming of silverware at the Amex as Megan Connolly helped Brighton reach the quarter finals of the Women’s FA Cup at the weekend by featuring in a 5-0 victory over Coventry United at the Broadfield Stadium.

The Republic of Ireland international played 90 minutes on Sunday and the quarter final draw has paired Brighton with Birmingham City.

Brighton, who have never played in Women’s FA Cup final, have been relentless this year as they have scored 12 goals in the two games they’ve played so far in the competition.

Their meeting with Coventry was a sticky encounter as they were repeatedly denied by a team playing in the lower leagues of English football.

Brighton scored on the 17th minute through Brianna Visalli but they were unable to get a second goal that would have put the cup tie beyond the reach of Coventry. 

Connolly thought it was her who got this goal for her side, but her attempt midway through the second half rolled narrowly wide.

Eventually they found the back of the net with Visalli knocking in her second and Brighton went on to score three more goals after the 88th minute.