
Late last night, as I perused social media, it came to my attention we had progressed in the Lincolnshire Senior Cup, beating Boston United 4-0.
It was notable because, as well as some of our exciting young players getting a run-out, Gbemi Arubi played and scored. Arubi was at Shelbourne last season, and whilst he is very much a prospect rather than someone likely to impact the first team straight away, it did jump out at me. Arubi was described as having an ‘X-factor’ by Damien Duff, his manager last season, and with him notching a goal, it suggested he could be someone we see integrated into our setup.
That got me thinking – I spotted Arubi because his first and last names were published by the Boston on their social media page. What if one of the players in the team whose first name was not mentioned is also a hot Irish prospect, another young player we could be looking at bringing over, developing, and hopefully seeing in red and white over the coming years? It seems that I might not be too far wrong.
Playing at number seven last night was a player called Izekor. Having dug a little deeper, it seems there was an Izekor playing in the Irish league last season – Divine Izekor. What’s more, he played for UCD, the same team from whom we signed Dylan Duffy and the same team that Jez and Laim watched against Shelbourne on the penultimate game of the Irish season. Coincidence? I think not.
Bohs-SKB U17s won away to Derry City today with Divine Izekor scoring the solitary goal 🔴⚫⚽️
Adam Banim kept a clean sheet 👐 pic.twitter.com/51Sg9LTa1z— Bohemian FC Academy and Underage Sections (@BFCUnderage) October 30, 2021
Divine Izekor is another who falls firmly into the ‘prospect’ category, alongside the likes of Sean Roughan when he signed for us. He appeared ten times for UCD up to May, always from the bench, without a goal. He’s an attacker who has operated on the left and right of a front three for the relegated side, as well as through the centre. He’s young – still only 18, and he came through the academy at Bohemians before his switch to UCD.
He played 190 minutes in total for UCD this season, and bear in mind they really struggled, suffering relegation after finishing 20 points adrift. The young forward managed a shot every 30 minutes during his time on the field – their leading scorer, Danu Kinsella-Bishop, only managed a shot every 40 minutes (49 from 1972 minutes). That’s not to pour scorn on anyone but to demonstrate Izekor was playing in a struggling side.
I don’t expect Arubi or Izekor to be players we see around the first team, like Michael Kamara, who we signed from Bromley and who also played last night. However, it is interesting to see these young trialists coming over and seeking to earn themselves a place with us, perhaps hoping to follow Sean Roughan and Dylan Duffy into the first team picture.
FYI – there was also an O’Sullivan playing for us last night that I struggled to find in our various youth teams, but that name might not be quite as easy to identify without a little more to go on!