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21.05.2006 at 11:00 Senec Slovakia Attendance:
Turkey 3 - 1 Rep of Ireland Under 19
Referee: Claudio Circhetta European Qualifier Elite Stage / T/S PROG-match

Goalscorers
Erkin 34 Mins,
Turan 63 mins,
Pariak 74 mins,
Adam Rooney (53)
Billy Clarke (63)
Opening squads
Volkan Babacan,
Serdar Kurtulus,
Ferhat Oztorun,
Emre Karaman,
Serder Ozkan,
Arda Turan,
Enis Kahraman,
Ilhan Parlak,
Caner Erkin,
Mevlut Erding,
Baris Atas.
Shane Supple
Simon Madden
Sean Kelly
Michael Spillane
Darren O'Dea
Edward Nolan
Jon P Kelly
Stephen Gleeson
Billy Clarke
Adam Rooney
Anthony Stokes
Substitutes
Serkan Boydak,
Gurhan Gursoy,
Cafercan Aksu,
Fatih Gulteken,
Aydin Yilmaz,
Mehmet Guven
Mehmet Sedef
Darren Randolph
Martin Reilly
Jonathan Hayes
James O'Brien
Shane Long
Substitutions
Sedef for Oztorun 46 mins,
Yilmaz for Erding 60 mins,
Guvan for Ozkan 65 mins,
James O'Brien -> Stephen Gleeson (69)
Shane Long -> Michael Spillane (75)
Jonathan Hayes -> Billy Clarke (78)
Yellow cards
Serdar Sezken 35 mins, Darren O'Dea (67)
Red cards
None Shane Long (91)
Other statistics
0 Shots 0
0 Shots on goal 0
0 Offsides 0
0 Corner kicks 0
0 Free kicks 0
0 Penalties 0
Match report
Sometimes you just have to put your hands up and say they were better than us and so it was as Ireland fell to Turkey in the Elite Round of the Under 19 European Championships in Slovakia toady.

Ireland needed to win to have any hope of qualification but they came up against as good a team as has been seen at this age group in a long time.

Ireland played well for an hour and matched their opponents in every way and to be truthful probabaly had the better chances. They went in a goal behind which was scored in the 33rd minute. However Ireland with their renowned fighting spirit drew level with a goal by Adam Rooney after 53 minutes.

But Turkey scored two more goals - both from close range through Turan Arda and Parlak Ilhan - to condemn Ireland to their second defeat in three days. Irish substitute Shane Long was sent-off with a minute of normal time left.

Slovakia beat Georgia 4-1 in the other game, leaving themselves and Turkey to battle it out for top spot in the group when they meet on Tuesday.

Irelands remaining game against Georgia on the same day, again in Senec, will decide who finishes third and fourth.

Irish manager Sean McCaffrey believes that Ireland was knocked out of contention by the possible European Champions: "I said before the tournament began that this was the game we had to win because Turkey were going to be the favourites to qualify.

“I am very disappointed for the lads because we played really well; they know they did well but they are very down at the minute."

He continued: "I could make excuses by saying we were without Chris McCann and Ian Morris (both injured) and Darron Gibson (did not travel - hernia) but the boys out there played very well."

John Paul Kelly captain of the Irish team obviously disappointed said " That is the best team I have ever played against. We matched them for an hour but then they just stepped up a gear and we were not able to go with them"

Ireland : Shane Supple (Ipswich Town); Sean Kelly (Arsenal), Eddie Nolan (Blackburn), Darren O Dea (Celtic), Simon Madden (Leeds Utd); Michael Spillane (Norwich), John Paul Kelly (Bohemians captain), Stephen Gleeson (Wolves); Anthony Stokes (Arsenal), Adam Rooney ( Stoke City), Billy Clarke (Ipswich Town).
Subs: James O Brien (Celtic) for Gleeson 69, Shane Long (Reading) for Spillane 75, Jonathan Hayes (Reading) for Clarke 78.
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