Derry's Mikey Harkin 'setting the standard' for Northern Ireland in Centenary Shield

Northern Ireland Under-18s are set to kick off the defence of their Centenary Shield this Friday.

The current holders of the competition begin their campaign against England in Truro City.

A Derry teenager is an ‘important piece’ of the Northern Ireland side looking to defend their title.

Mikey Harkin was part of the squad last year, and he has become key to Neil McGaughey’s side.

The Northern Ireland manager said: “He sets the standard.

“One thing that he has always had is that he is the hardest worker on the pitch. He is the most honest lad.

“He is an unbelievable talent, the lad, without doing down the talent that he has. The one thing that you know you are going to get with him is loads of hard work, and as I said to him last year walking out of the hotel before we went to play the Republic of Ireland—‘Mikey, you know the one thing about you, son, you always score,’ so he is a really important piece of what we are trying to do this year.”

The 17-year-old’s attitude has seen him become part of the Larne setup, training with the senior setup under Gary Haveron & Nathan Rooney, predominantly featuring in their under-20 squad.

Harkin is the first student to attend St. Patrick's College Dungiven and represent NI Schoolboys, and since joining the setup, McGaughey has seen the 17-year-old grow and improve week upon week.

McGaughey said: “The change in Mikey from when he came into the process has been unbelievable.

“When we played Australia, he set the standard for his teammates for work rate and intensity to play at; unfortunately, he only lasted 20 minutes because he was taken off with a knock to the head.

“His versatility as well makes him so important; if you need a fullback locked up for 20 minutes, Mikey can do it; if you need a goal, Mikey can do it; he really is going to be an important piece of the puzzle this year.”

Northern Ireland won every match last year, with Harkin scoring the opening goals against England and the Republic of Ireland.

McGaughey is hoping to make history with Northern Ireland this year, confident that they can be the first team since England in 2006 and 2007 to win consecutive Centenary Shields.

He said: “Everyone wants to make history; it is one of those things where if you can write your name in the history books, everybody can look back on you and think that they must have been a really good team. 

“To be honest, the talent that we have coming through over the last two years, there is every chance that we can go do it.”

The Northern Ireland manager believes that Harkin is one of a number of players that football fans should enjoy in his squad, also naming Josh Williamson (Crusaders), Senan Devine (Coleraine), and Eoin O’Neill (Glentoran) as other players with big futures.

McGaughey can’t wait for the tournament to start, privileged to be involved in the historic competition.

He said: “This is a real privilege to work with these lads.

“A friend of mine, Frank Wilson, was the manager for 10 or 12 years, and Frank passed away a couple of years ago, and this is how I got this opportunity, and I see that as a real privilege to be involved but also a real privilege to carry on Frank’s work with this group.”

Northern Ireland kicks off their tournament against England on Friday night at 7pm in Truro, before facing Scotland at home in Blanchflower Stadium, Belfast (7pm, April 4), and Republic of Ireland in the same venue a week later (7pm, April 11), before traveling to Wales for the final fixture, hoping to lift a consecutive Centenary Shield (7pm, April 24).