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Adam O’Reilly has made his senior debut for Preston North End.
The 17-year-old replaced his compatriot Graham Burke late in the club’s 1-1 draw with Aston Villa at Deepdale.
O’Reilly is an underage Republic of Ireland international, and was part of the talented international U17 squad that reached the European Championship quarter-finals in the summer.
“Over the moon to make my Preston north End debut tonight, just want to thank everyone who has helped me to get to where I am today and hopefully more to come, just another stepping stone,” the Cork teenager wrote on Instagram afterwards.
Villa took the lead in the first half at Deepdale through striker Tammy Abraham, before the hosts drew level through a Ahmed El Mohamady own goal.
There were several Irish players on display, with Glenn Whelan and Conor Hourihane starting for the visitors, while Graham Burke started for the hosts.
O’Reilly’s teammate and fellow Cork native Alan Browne missed out due to a minor hamstring injury. Like Browne, O’Reilly is from Mahon, and represented Ringmahon Rangers.
He joined Preston at the age of 14, and is highly rated at the Championship club.
Another substitute, Ethan Walker, became the youngest player to play a league game for Preston North End, after making his debut this afternoon aged 16 years and 156 days.
🙌 Congratulations to @pnefcacademy pair @Adam_o_reilly and @Ethanwalker_7 on making their first team debuts this afternoon! 👏 #pnefc pic.twitter.com/VPckeGfDzJ
— Preston North End FC (@pnefc) December 29, 2018
