Rovers’ Noonan, 16, sets Conference League scoring mark

Irish teenager Michael Noonan had a debut to remember for Shamrock Rovers on Thursday.

The 16-year-old forward became the second-youngest goalscorer in European club competition, and the youngest ever in Conference League play when he netted the winner for Rovers in a 1-0 first-leg playoff victory over Molde.

Nii Lamptey remains the youngest scorer in any senior UEFA club competition, firing home for Anderlecht in a 3-2 loss to Roma in the UEFA Cup at the age of 16 years and 100 days in 1991.

At 16 years, 197 days old, Noonan bumped Romelu Lukaku into third after the Belgian striker scored in December of 2009 for Anderlecht against Ajax in the Europa League at the age of 16 years and 218 days.

“Enjoyed that one,” Noonan wrote on his Instagram account afterward.

The Dublin side is the first Irish team to play in a knockout stage of a European competition.

The second leg is next Thursday at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin, and the victory in Norway sparked the sale of 1,000 tickets after the final whistle. Capacity is about 10,000.

Noonan, who had a trial with Manchester City, joined Rovers in January from St Patrick’s Athletic, where he had become the Saints’ youngest-ever starter at 15 years, 9 months.

He’s an Under-17 international for Ireland.

Rovers coach Stephen Bradley said it was an easy call to insert Noonan into the lineup after having watched the teenager perform well against veteran center backs in training.

“You could tell he was ready. I made the decision very early to play him, didn’t tell him until late because I didn’t want it playing on his mind,” Bradley said. “He just lives, breathes and sleeps football.

“You have that attitude and then you combine it with ability, you’ve got half a chance. And he’s definitely got half a chance.”

Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this story.