Patrick Bamford only has one sole cap for Ireland underage. That appearance came for the U18s in 2010, but reports have emerged recently that the 24-year-old would consider representing Ireland should he get the call.
The more pessimistic Irish fan may say, so what? Another player on the fence about choosing Ireland, but if Bamford keeps scoring goals like the one he scored in the dying minutes of their loss to Wolves today, there will be a lot more people clamouring for his inclusion into the Irish squad.
Middlesbrough were two nil down to Championship leaders Wolves but two sending offs for Ruben Neves and recent Irish squad member Matt Doherty meant that the league leaders were under the kosh for much of the second half.
Neves was sent off for a bad tackle on 56 minutes and Doherty was given his marching orders in the 71st, after leading with an elbow:
But despite the numerical advantage Middlesbrough only managed to breach the Wolves goal in injury time, Bamford producing an expertly measured volley to bring the scores to 2-1. A ball was lofted into the box deep into injury time and the former Chelsea youth let the ball come across his body before rifling a shot into the roof of the net.
The result means that Wolves now only need nine points in order to secure automatic promotion to the Premier League where as Middlesbrough are in the last of the play off places and will see this game as a missed opportunity to cement their position going into the final stretch of games.
