McNamara in Republic squad

KELLS youngster Darragh McNamara has been selected on the Republic of Ireland u-19 soccer squad for this week"s four-nation international tournament which includes Portugal, Spain and Ukraine. The Kells teenager, who was a member the Meath minor football team earlier this summer, recently signed full-time professional forms with Drogheda United. The vast majority of the Irish squad is made up of players on the books of English clubs. The tournament will be played in Ireland this week and is part of a warm up programme for the European Championships. The Republic of Ireland played Portugal and Ukraine on Monday and Tuesday night and will complete their schedule on Thursday, 21st August when they tackle Spain at Lissywoolen (Athlone Town FC) at 7.30, the other game in the tournament between Ukraine and Portugal will be played at Flancare Park (Longford Town FC) at 3.0. The start of the local soccer season in the Meath & District League was postponed by a week due to the bad weather. 'The matter was discussed at Last week"s club management meeting in the Ardboyne Hotel, Navan and there was a general consensus amongst the club delegates that it would be more prudent to delay the start of the season by a week,' stated MDL secretary Gerry Gorman. Before the season even started, there was one casualty when Westmeath side Glen Rangers withdrew from Div 3. Club stalwart Michael Buckley worked hard for many seasons to keep the flag flying in the Collinstown area, but called a halt last week and withdrew the team for the 2008 / 2009 season. The Meath and District League season is due to kick-off this weekend