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04.09.2007 at 19:30 Belfield Park
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Attendance: 150 |
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Rep of Ireland Under 19 |
0 - 1
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Portugal
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Referee: D Hancock |
Friendly / T/S-match |
Shane Redmond
Mark O Toole
Brendan Moloney
Noel Haverty
Michael Spillane
Lorcan Fitzgerald
James Mc Carthy
James Berrett
Donal Mc Dermott
Karl Byrne
Ian Daly
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Lopes,
Pinto,
Pita,
Lima,
Fernandes,
Cruz,
Carvalhas,
Riberiro,
Rabiola,
Silva,
Ferreira. |
Under-19 International Friendly
Republic of Ireland 0 – 1 Portugal
Pita 12
One goal was enough for Portugal to defeat Ireland’s Under-19 side tonight at Belfield in the first of two friendly matches organised for this week as warm-up for the UEFA first phase qualifiers in November.
Carlos Pita scored the only goal of the game for the visitors in the 12th minute. He struck the ball low and hard past Ireland goalkeeper Shane Redmond when a corner on the right from Portugal skipper Andrien Silva dropped into his path on the edge of the penalty area.
The teams will meet again on Thursday in another friendly before facing each other in the UEFA qualifiers from November 1st – 6th. The Portuguese will host the first phase group which consists of Belarus, Andora, the Republic of Ireland and the hosts.
All four nations play each other on a round-robin basis with the top two-placed teams in the group advancing to the second, Elite stage of the qualifying series.
Ireland manager Sean McCaffrey handed a debut at this level to James McCarthy and he controlled matters from early on.
The Hamilton Academicals midfielder began the game at a bustling pace and was foiled in his attempts to open the scoring inside the first minute.
Donal McDermott spotted McCarthy racing into the penalty area and though his shot from the cross packed power and accuracy, a covering Portugal defender deflected the effort wide of the target and out for corner.
James Berrett might have done better with a close-range shot from the corner that resulted but he blasted a shot over the crossbar.
Portugal snatched the lead on 12 minutes following a corner-kick conceded by Redmond who reacted brilliantly to Silva’s pile-driver by pushing it over.
McCaffrey’s introduced Alan Lynch into the attack for the second half and the Bohemians striker proved a menace to the visiting defence.
His confidence was boosted by scoring on his first start at International level against Chile last month and on more than one occasion, he got behind his marker to create openings.
Ireland pushed in search of an equaliser and captain Michael Spillane saw his header float over the crossbar from a Lorcan Fitzgerald delivery four minutes after the restart.
Lynch tried his luck approaching the hour mark with another header which was saved and centre-back Shane Lowry powered a shot goal-bound that the goalkeeper Lopes was equal to.
Brendan Moloney made a charge from the right-back position eleven minutes from time which brought him past three defenders to within 30 yards of goal yet his shot didn’t trouble the Portuguese custodian.
That was the closest Ireland came to earning a draw and the Irish players will be gunning for a win on Thursday to level up the scores before they travel to Portugal in November.
Republic of Ireland:
Shane Redmond – Nottingham Forest
Brendan Moloney – Nottingham Forest
Mark O’Toole - Norwich City
Noel Haverty – St. Patrick’s Athletic
Michael Spillane – Norwich City (Captain)
Lorcan Fitzgerald – West Ham
James Berrett – Huddersfield Town
James McCarthy – Hamilton Academicals
Karl Byrne – Glebe North
Donal McDermott – Manchester City
Ian Daly – Manchester City
Substitutions:
Alan Lynch – Bohemians for Byrne (46 mins)
Shane Lowry – Aston Villa for Berrett (46 mins)
Peter McMahon – Drogheda United for McCarthy (71 mins)
Daniel Earls – Aston Villa for O’Toole (71 mins)
Daniel Corcoran – St. Patrick’s Athletic for Daly (71 mins)
Portugal: Lopes, Pinto, Pita, Lima, Fernandes, Cruz, Carvalhas (Rainho 87), Riberiro (Santos 65), Rabiola (Matias 46), Silva (Hugo 46), Ferreira (Rosado 46)
Referee: Damien Hancock.
Under-19 Friendly Fixtures:
Tuesday, September 4th - 7.30pm
Republic of Ireland 0 - 1 Portugal
Belfield Park, UCD
Thursday, September 6th - 7.30pm
Republic of Ireland v Portugal
United Park, Drogheda |
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