From Bohemians and St Patrick's Athletic to a tiny town in central Sweden, Dubliners Jack O'Reilly and Darragh Dunne are making the most of their first-team breakthroughs.
The 14-hour round trip to Thursday’s game against Skelleftea FF - a 2-2 draw - was nothing to young Dublin er Jack O’Reilly.O’Reilly is one of two League of Ireland prospects who, last winter, decided they had enough of Under-20s football and took a leap into the unknown in search of first-team action.READ MORE: Bohemians part way with Estonian duo after only six months
O’Reilly and Dunne signed for Ytterhogdals IK, who compete in the fourth tier, in February and quickly established themselves in the first-team. “It’s better now that the European Championships are on, because you can watch the matches on the journeys.”“There’s one coffee shop around the corner,” says O’Reilly. “They sponsor us and if you go there on a Friday they give you free coffee.
“But it was also another reason to come over, to get fully focused on football and get a good solid year out of it.”When they arrived, the ground was still carpeted with a thick layer of snow, while there was very little daylight during their first few months in Ytterhogdals. Currently playing in the Swedish second tier, their boss Magnus Powell is always watching the young Ytterhogdals players with an eye on recruitment.
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