McCarthy helps Hull to crucial three points

Cathal McCarthy was sprung from the bench early as Hull City recorded a huge 1-0 away win against Championship promotion rivals Middlesbrough on Monday evening.

The Caragh teenager made two appearances for Hull back in August, including starting his first Championship game the day after receiving his Leaving Cert results, but has had to be patient while waiting for his third game.

That included a run of 12 appearances on the substitute’s bench without making it on to the pitch but that changed when Ryan Giles went down injured after just five minutes of Monday's game.

Manager Sergej Jakirovic turned to Irish Under 21 international McCarthy and was rewarded with a mature and assured performance as Hull recorded a win that moves them to within two points of Middlesbrough in second place in the Championship table.

McCarthy was shown a yellow card within ten minutes of his introduction but recovered superbly after that and played his part in Hull keeping a clean sheet at the home ground of one of the form teams in this year’s Championship.

His performance drew rave reviews and local paper, the Hull Daily Mail, said ‘McCarthy continued to impress with a flurry of terrific blocks, in what was a very good defensive display.’ 

Hull’s squad is stretched as they have a number of injury concerns at the moment and McCarthy’s display will certainly have put him in the thoughts of his manager ahead of their next game, at home to Stoke on New Year’s Day.