Blow of missing Euros softened for Ross County's Liam Boyce by daughter's birth
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THE birth of his daughter softened the blow of missing the European Championships for Ross County striker Liam Boyce.
He was present for the birth of his first child Scout a fortnight ago, when he could have been lining up for Northern Ireland against Poland.
Far from being a disheartened spectator at watching his homeland’s unexpected progression to the last 16, a welcome addition to the Boyce family has instead put a smile on his face.
Twenty-goal striker Boyce was named in Michael O’Neill’s provisional squad for the Euros, but a combination of injuries and form led to him and ex-Caley Thistle striker Billy Mckay being dropped from the final 23-man pool.
Ironically one of the men preferred to him, the prolific Wigan forward Will Grigg, had zero opportunity to justify the cult hero status attributed to him by the rehashing of the 1990s dancefloor classic Freed From Desire.
Grigg did not feature in France, O’Neill instead using two other strikers with Scottish connections – Kyle Lafferty and Josh Magennis.
Being able to watch his country from the couch, with his newborn daughter, has proved a more than comforting alternative.
“I’ve not found it too difficult not being there,” said Boyce, who is contracted to County until 2018.
“When I found out I wasn’t going I was gutted, but then it was going to come down to a choice between that and my first kid being born.
“My missus gave birth the day of the first match and that would have caused a bit of hassle if I had to go to Michael (O’Neill) and ask to leave.
“You obviously want to be going out and playing for your country, but seeing your daughter being born puts things in perspective.
“You don’t know how long these things are going to take so I would have been in a bit of a difficult situation, had I been picked.“All the family wanted me to see it and I’m glad I did. Missing the tournament turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
“She had a bit of a temperature when she was born and we had to stay in hospital for a few days. But we had her home for a week-and-a-half before I came back over here.
“They’re coming over here after I come back from Hungary so I’ve got some time to prepare for some sleepless nights!
“I’ve not got her any Ross County gear yet and I don’t think my fiancée would like it, but you have to get a shirt with ‘Dad’ on the back, don’t you?”
Northern Ireland’s quest for a place in the quarter-finals was ended on Saturday evening, when the Gareth Bale-led Wales bandwagon crashed their party.
They were beneficiaries of UEFA’s complex 24-team expansion, firstly presenting greater opportunities for smaller nations to qualify and then for several best third-placed sides to progress.
A drab 1-0 defeat to Poland in their opening round encounter turned the Ukraine tie into a must-win game. The negative tactics of days previous were discarded as a more expansive and expressive Northern Ireland side dispatched below-par opposition.
The third place melting pot meant there was persistent confusion throughout the 90 minutes against Germany, where one eye was always cast on the goal difference column to make sure O’Neill’s men avoided conceding three goals.
A 1-0 defeat, coupled with Ukraine’s forgettable participation coming to an end at the hands of the Poles, was enough to see Northern Ireland through.
“Obviously it wasn’t the best of starts because we needed to get something from the Poland game, but the Ukraine game was unbelievable,” Boyce said of a game decided by Gareth McAulay and Aberdeen’s Niall McGinn.“I was watching the Germany game and was trying to work out how many goals we couldn’t lose by, which I think was three. Michael (McGovern) thankfully made a lot of good saves because it could have been much worse.
“I was nervous because I want to see them do well. Nobody expected them to get through and play Wales.”
- Ross County will play a friendly against Buckie Thistle at Victoria Park on July 12.
