Cork City Under 19s ready for historic HJS Helsinki test in UEFA Youth League

Cork City Under 19 manager Stephen Bermingham is confident his Rebel Army young guns can claim victory as they become the first Irish side to compete in the UEFA Youth League.

 

Tomorrow, the SSE Airtricity League Under 19 Champions will be Ireland's first representative in Europe's elite youth competition after they qualified through the Domestic Champions route.

 

Cork City have travelled to Finland to face HJS Helsinki, with kick-off at 5pm (7pm local time), in the first of two legs as they look to progress where they will face either APOEL Nicosia or AS Roma.

 

Bermingham's squad travelled to the Finnish capital this morning with a mixture of Under 19 and Under 17 players in the squad and they will train at the Sonara Stadium this evening.

 

The Cork coach said: "The lads are really looking forward to it. We've had a good journey over and the lads are feeling refreshed, with a lot of excitement in the camp.

 



"We're going to train on the artificial pitch tonight to get used to it and its important the players feel comfortable going out there before tomorrow evening.

 

"We've got a very good squad out here. The majority of the squad are from the Under 19's but we've also got a number of Under 17's with us as well. We've got a lot of very good footballers in the group and it's great we've been able to get players from both groups to make it as strong as it is."

 

Cork have already wrapped up the SSE Airtricity U19 League Southern Division this season and claimed a 2-0 victory over St. Patrick's Athletic to lift the Enda McGuill Cup this month.

 



The Cork coach admitted the Cup final victory has given his players plenty of confidence going into the European tie but has praised the quality of the opposition.

 

He continued: "It was a great win for us. It was against a Pats team which had a number of players who’ve experienced first-team football this season and that was definitely a huge help to the confidence of the team.

 

"We've had a bit of information on them. They're technically very strong which they showed in this competition last year. They're going to be tough opposition, we know that but we're looking forward to testing ourselves.

 

"This is a big game for the players of course but they won't be going into the game nervous, it's important we go out there looking to play our best football."

 

Cork City will be Ireland's first-ever representative in the competition in what is a major step forward for Irish domestic football and youth development.

 

With the second leg on Wednesday, October 19th, with kick-off at 7.45pm, Bermingham wants to see his side take a positive result back to Turner's Cross next month.

 

Bermingham added: "We want to get a positive result so we can bring it back to Turner's Cross and I know the group are fully capable of that. I'm sure Cork City supporters will come out in their numbers to support us in the second leg.

 

"There has been a lot of hype around Cork and the country, especially in under-age football in Ireland and it isn't just huge for us but for the country with the amount of work going in behind the scenes in under-age football."