Former Cork City defender Brian Lenihan finally made his Hull City debut in the SkyBet Championship today, 20 months after joining the club.
Lenihan started at right-back for the Tigers and made an impression against already relegated Bolton Wanderers.
Defending a corner, the Irish u-21 international made an excellent clearance off the line to keep the game scoreless, although it proved in vain as Stephen Dobbie scored a winner for Bolton in the 65th minute.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Debutant Brian Lenihan clears one off the line for City <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/hcafc?src=hash">#hcafc</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BOLHULL?src=hash">#BOLHULL</a> #0-0 <a href="https://t.co/cD4xSRt7Sb">pic.twitter.com/cD4xSRt7Sb</a></p>— Tigerlink (@HCAFCTigerlink) <a href="https://twitter.com/HCAFCTigerlink/status/726393304359784448">April 30, 2016</a></blockquote>
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The result has little effect on Hull's play-off hopes however, as they sit fourth and twelve points clear of seventh placed Cardiff with just two games remaining.
After an impressive stint with Cork City, Lenihan joined Steve Bruce's charges in August 2014 for a fee believed to be worth £200,000.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">TEAM NEWS: The Tigers make six changes for this afternoon's game against <a href="https://twitter.com/OfficialBWFC">@OfficialBWFC</a> including a debut for Brian Lenihan <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BOLHUL?src=hash">#BOLHUL</a></p>— Hull City (@HullCity) <a href="https://twitter.com/HullCity/status/726358460217057284">April 30, 2016</a></blockquote>
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However, since then his career has failed to take off with injury hampering his progress, while he has only played twice in England, when out on loan with Blackpool.
“We’ve got a few options but Brian has trained with us all week and he’s done well,” Bruce told the Daily Mail before the game.
“It’s not been an easy 18 months for him with injuries but he’s come back and played eight or nine games for the under-21s. He’s big, quick and aggressive, a typical Irish lad, as tough as they come. He’s going to be a very good young player, who’s got a bright future in the game.”
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