The Third Division side fielded Mark Warren Simon Clark and Stuart Hicks in a number of mid-season matches even though

The Third Division side fielded Mark Warren, Simon Clark and Stuart Hicks in a number of mid-season matches, even though they were suspended.Orient, who blamed administrative errors for the offence, were fined pounds 20,000 – pounds 12,500 suspended until 1999 – and were reported to the Football League, who could also deduct points when they consider the case.. THE new Northern Ireland manager, Lawrie McMenemy, has quickly identified his side’s biggest problem – scoring goals. “The higher up you go, the harder it is to score goals,” McMenemy said before tonight’s game with Slovakia in Belfast. “You can’t expect lads performing in the First and Second Divisions to go and play inter- national football and suddenly start hitting the back of the net.”
McMenemy will probably opt for Queen’s Park Rangers’ Iain Dowie and West Bromwich’s James Quinn up front, although St Johnstone’s George O’Boyle could come on at some stage.NORTHERN IRELAND (possible): Fettis; Patterson/Whitley, A Hughes, Hill, Morrow, M Hughes, Lomas, Lennon, Gillespie, Dowie, Quinn.. DAMIEN DUFF makes his eagerly awaited international debut tonight in one of European football’s remotest spots when the Czech Republic play host to the Republic of Ireland in Olomouc. And Mick McCarthy, the Republic of Ireland manager, could not be more pleased.

It was only a matter of time before Duff, the 19-year-old Blackburn Rovers winger, wore the senior green shirt. The Dubliner was the outstanding figure in the youth team’s third-place finish in the World Under-18 championship last summer.
“We can all tell Damien’s got the lot,” McCarthy said. “He’s got great first touch, pace, control and finishing ability. And in a remarkably charitable gesture, United are to help out their struggling neighbours, Manchester City, by letting them have defender John Curtis, who played for England Under-21s last night, on loan for the rest of the season.Lars Bohinen, the Blackburn midfielder, is to meet Jim Smith, the Derby manager, about a move to Pride Park in a deal worth around pounds 1.2m. The Norwegian has fallen out of favour with the Rovers manager, Roy Hodgson, and has made just six Premiership starts this season.

Blackburn paid Nottingham Forest pounds 700,000 for him two seasons ago.Leyton Orient have been fined by the Football Association for fielding three ineligible players in league matches. After an impressive performance for the Arsenal reserves against Portsmouth at the weekend, Seaman has had a setback on the finger injury that has kept him out since January, and has been unable to train.
Wright is still struggling with a groin problem and it looks likely the pair will miss Saturday’s Premiership match with Sheffield Wednesday and next Tuesday’s visit to Bolton, as well as the FA Cup semi-final against Wolves on 5 April.However, despite pulling out of the England squad to face Switzerland tonight, Tony Adams and Ray Parlour should be fit to face Wednesday.Arsenal’s title rivals, Manchester United, have beaten Spurs to the signature of York teenager Jonathan Greening, after he impressed in trials in November. Substitutes not used: Crogh, Thorup, Hyldgaard.Referee: Bragi Bergmann (Iceland).l The West Ham striker Lee Boylan was knocked unconscious following a collision with the Czech Republic Under-21 goalkeeper Jindrich Skacel 20 minutes into his Republic of Ireland Under-21 debut in Drnovice. Boylan was treated for more than two minutes on the pitch before he could be moved.

X-rays later revealed he had not fractured a cheek bone as feared, but bruising to the side of his face The Irish lost the match 3-0.. ARSENAL’S Double hopes have been hit by the news that David Seaman and Ian Wright are set to miss another three games, despite hopes of their imminent return to action. Substitutes not used: Robertson, Elliot.Denmark Under-21: Nielsen; Jacobsen, Laursen, Baelum, Jepsen, Madsen, Jensen, Fig (Lektonen, 77), Gronkjaer, Roell-Larsen, Cliford (Smith, 70). However, he will have been encouraged by an improved second-half display which culminated in the substitute Barry Ferguson’s 86th-minute free-kick to halve the deficit.After nine minutes, Gronkjaer’s low cross shot was pushed away by the goalkeeper Derek Scrimgour, Clement Cliford was first to the rebound but Gary Naysmith blocked his effort.

But after 18 minutes Denmark translated their pressure into a goal for Gronkjaer, who cleverly turned Mikkel Jensen’s cross past Scrimgour.Five minutes later, Gronkjaer got the better of Louis Carey on the left to fire an angled drive that Scrimgour could only push as far as Madsen, who netted with ease.The Danes could have moved further ahead before the break when Scrimgour fumbled a Lars Jacobsen cross into the path of Madsen but this time he volleyed wide of an open goal from the edge of the area.After the break Denmark continued to press, Jensen firing a free-kick narrowly wide after 48 minutes.Gavin Strachan, watched by his father Gordon, almost managed a goal on his debut after 75 minutes when his diving header from Stuart Campbell’s precise cross was clawed away well by Jimmy Nielsen.That looked as though it would be Scotland’s first and last effort at goal but the Rangers midfielder Ferguson stroked in a 20-yard free-kick for a happier conclusion to a disappointing afternoon.Scotland Under-21: Scrimgour; McEwan, Naysmith, McCluskey (Horn, 68), Carey, Brebner (Anderson, 57), Campbell (Ferguson, 77), Strachan, McCulloch, Graham (Burchill, 57), Easton. Scotland Under-21 1 Denmark Under-21 2

SCOTLAND’S young guns found themselves outshone by the Ajax-bound Jesper Gronkjaer, who scored and made another for Peter Madsen in an opening spell in which the Danes capitalised on uncertain defending at Stirling yesterday.
The 20-year-old forward, who has signed a pre-contract deal to leave Aalborg for the Dutch club this summer, was a class apart at Forthbank.For the home coach, Tommy Craig, the defeat hardly bodes well for the European Championship qualifiers at under-21 level later this year. Wimbledon’s Robbie Earle, who headed the winner at QPR, is likely to start while other English-based players include Marcus Gayle (Wimbledon), Frank Sinclair (Chelsea), Daryll Powell and Deon Burton (Derby), and Paul Hull and Fitroy Simpson Portsmouth).If only their families had originated from Tiger instead of Montego Bay.. Many of our fans have never seen a football match before but they’ll be there to welcome the players, and celebrate the first time we have qualified for the finals of the World Cup.”The Jamaicans may not be familiar to their own supporters but many of them will ring a bell with the Welsh contingent scattered among the steel bands. “Jamaicans love a good time,” a spokesman for the Jamaican Trade Commission said “It should be an all-night party the city will never forget. “I wish I could take their support with me everywhere,” he said.