PAT DEVLIN was yesterday given the opportunity of rescuing a disappointing season with his appointment as manager as the National League's representative team.

On the day his old friend Kenny Dalglish accepted the challenge of building on Kevin Keegan's legacy at Newcastle, Devlin emerged as the unexpected choice of the National League's Management Committee to succeed Brian Kerr.

Kerr, as manager of the reigning champions, St Patrick's Athletic, was automatically installed in the job at the start of the season, but resigned on becoming manager of the national under-16 and under-18 teams last month.

Devlin, a man with an impressive depth of experience in domestic football, is finding the task of keeping Bray Wanderers in the Premier Division an increasingly futile one.

Yet, he commands the respect of his peers, and to that extent his attempt to follow in the footsteps of Turlough O'Connor and Jim McLaughlin, among others, will have the support of everybody in the National League.

His initial challenge will be to fashion a win over an English Vauxhall Conference selection at a Dublin venue on February 25th, a useful dress rehearsal for the more demanding assignment against the Republic of Ireland "B" team, probably at Tolka Park on March 18th. Also in the pipeline is a return meeting with the Welsh League, but the match arrangements are, as yet, uncertain.

It was also confirmed yesterday that Tommy Connolly, the assistant manager at Dundalk, will take charge of the National League's under-21 team for a game against a US selection at a Dublin venue on April 1st.

Joe Hanrahan is set for an early recall when Dundalk attempt to distance themselves from the indignities of the scoreless draw at the weekend by beating Whitehall Rangers, from the Leinster League, in their FAI Cup first round replay at Oriel Park this evening.

Rangers, the club which gave Shay Gibbons to the game in this country, acknowledge that luck was running with them last Sunday when Dundalk were denied by the woodwork on no fewer than four occasions.

The bigger pitch at Oriel Park will pose problems for amateurs playing for the second time in four days, but Rangers still haven't abandoned hope of going into the draw for the second round of the competition, due to be made tomorrow morning.

The Rangers team is likely to stay unchanged, a decision which would give the former Dundalk player, Mick Kavanagh, a second chance of bringing down his old clubmates.

Dundalk's frustration in failing to impose themselves in the original game was reflected in the decision of manager John Hewitt to withdraw his two front players, Brendan Markey and Peter Withnell, and replace them with Hanrahan and Joe Gallen.

Hanrahan, in particular, gave the Dubliners a lot of hassle and may be included in today's starting line-up.