Three Albion Players Up For Irish Awards

Three Brighton & Hove Albion players have been recognised for their exploits at international level with Republic of Ireland, after the nominations were revealed for the 2017 ‘Three’ FAI International awards.

Shane Duffy will go up against James McClean and Darren Randolph in the Senior International Player of the Year category, while Jayson Molumby and Aaron Connolly have been nominated for the same award at under-19 and under-17 level respectively.

Duffy featured nine times for his country during 2017, scoring his first international goal against Georgia away from home, before netting against Denmark at the Aviva Stadium in November.

The defender produced a magnificent display against Wales in their must-win game to secure a World Cup qualification play-off - and although Duffy headed Ireland into a 1-0 lead in the second leg, Denmark hit back to win 5-1.

Molumby, who plays for Albion’s under-23 side, also played nine games for his country in 2017, scoring a hat-trick in a 5-0 victory over Cyprus en route to securing a spot in the Elite Round of the 2018 European Championship qualification process.

The central midfielder, who captains the under-19s, is currently out injured, but his team-mates will look to secure their place in this summer’s tournament, when they play Slovakia, Kosovo and Portugal later this month.

Connolly featured for three different age groups throughout 2017, claiming an assist on his debut for the under-19s, while scoring four goals in three appearances for the under-17s as they qualified for the 2017 European Championships.

The striker played in all four games at last summer’s tournament in Croatia, but Ireland were knocked out at the quarter-final stage by England, who eventually finished runners-up behind Spain.

The award ceremony will take place in the RTE Studios in Dublin on Sunday 18th March, with Albion’s three nominees finding out if they’ve been successful in their respective categories.