Currently drawing attention and rising up the career trajectory is Pierce Charles. The young keeper enjoyed a break-through season for Sheffield Wednesday and wore the national shirt again – this time in the under-21s. But in the end he would have been left to rue a high price error in the match despite his recent success.
Sheffield Wednesday have fallen back heavily on the shoulders of James Beadle, but over at Hillsborough they still boast one of the better young keepers in the EFL in Pierce Charles. And that eye-catching form on the back of Danny Rohl’s arrival will have not gone unnoticed by Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill.
Charles has been a regular for his national team in recent months but this latest match was a gut punch. Beginning with the 2-0 advantage his Northern Ireland mustered in leading Luxembourg before that went ineptly flat for a dismal 2-2 draw where Charles became all too regular wizen just minutes.
Seven minutes later Charles was in queasy stead during a wretched period. Things went downhill from there. A dangerous free-kick out towards Seid Korac, whose effort was directly at Charles but found its way through his outstretched hands and into the net to reduce the deficit. Only the previously lacklustre Gerson Rodrigues was able to hit back later, and by then it seemed cruelest of fates that seemed especially hard on a demoralised Charles.
He received a 5/10 from the Belfast Telegraph albeit they then went on to highlight his mix-up with Korac’s goal as being misleading in the boxscore. Similarly, Belfast Live reported that he was “downcast” at conceding the goal which brought the sides level.
But that frustration cannot dim the radiance of Charles as a beacon for club and country. Just 19, he is a beacon of hope themselves having only just made his league bow and performing in a way that suggests not just far brighter days ahead in the Northern Ireland number one jersey but possibly as the Owls no. 1 keeper next term too.
His latest feats, including the breaking of a 48-year national record by going unscored upon since September, has only further cemented him as one of the future leaders on the field. And along with Rohl’s recent ‘future’ endorsement, they offers faith in Charles’s ability and the promise of a first-choice promotion by 2025/26 after Beadle caused questions over his Owls future.
