Video: Young Celtic striker hits the goal trail out on loan

By John McGinley

April 1, 2023

Young Celtic loanee Johnny Kenny contributed to Shamrock Rovers’ first league win of the season on Friday night, netting his third goal in nine matches for the Irish club.

Kenny is on loan at Rovers for the 2023 Irish season and used his experiences on international duty to great effect in club action, just like he said he would.

Rory Gaffney and Lee Grace had their side 2-0 up away to Dundalk before Kenny coolly guided in their third with a header, having been trusted to start the match. Graham Burke rounded off the scoring 15 minutes from time. You can see Kenny’s goal embedded below or on Twitter.

Johnny Kenny finding form away from Celtic

It’s the latest bit of positivity for Kenny after making his Ireland U21s debut against Iceland during the break and scoring the winning goal, despite his team being down to ten men.

The 19-year-old signed for Celtic from Sligo Rovers in January 2022 and had a spell in the Celtic B side before being sent out on loan at Queen’s Park. The offer to join Shamrock Rovers then came in January and it seems to be far more productive than his stint in the Scottish Championship.

He’s earning starts, scoring goals and is growing in confidence – which is exactly what you want when a young striker heads out on loan, regardless of the level.

Kenny said after his Friday night effort: “It was good, we started very well. We have to start taking our chances and I think we showed tonight we can score goals.”

The youngster now has a big Dublin derby match to look forward to next Friday. If he manages to bag himself a goal in that one his stock will only increase.

At the very least Kennt has given himself a solid platform to build on this season with his first three goals for the club. It’ll now be about finding consistency in the penalty box.

With his contract at Celtic not expiring until 2026, everyone is looking forward to seeing what he can accomplish in this stint before a renewed push for senior involvement under Ange Postecoglou when he returns.

In other news, David Martindale and Malky Mackay left in awe of Celtic star.