Under-18 Limoges tournament, France
Republic of Ireland 0-0 Serbia
It was a case of defences coming out on top as the Republic of Ireland Under-18s were unable to find the net against Serbia today (Tuesday) in their first game of the Limoges four-nation tournament campaign in France.
Ireland enjoyed dominant spells of possession, especially in the second half, but openings were few and far between.
Ireland manager Sean McCaffrey gave two players their International debuts but one of those, MK Dons striker Charlie Collins, was forced off with a head injury after only ten minutes.
He was brought to hospital with concussion but was later discharged.
Serbia lined up with a rigid formation, meaning the Irish had to be incisive with their passing.
Midfielder Jason Hughes from Limerick 37 slowly began to take a stranglehold on the central area and provided good service to attacker Ronan Murray and Joe Mason, who replaced Collins early on.
The Serbian defence, however, remained commanding and gave away few openings to the Irish forwards.
Ireland goalkeeper Harry Lee had little to do and, despite a late surge of pressure, the Irish had to settle for the draw.
Republic of Ireland manager Sean McCaffrey praised the persistence on his players: “Serbia are an established nation at Youth level, having qualified for the Under-17 European Championship last season, and they were a good test for our lads today.
“Four players who hadn’t been capped by me before started the game and it was important to give them the opportunity to face decent opposition like Serbia.”
He added: “I was particularly pleased with the second half performance. Our defenders were solid and, if anyone was going to win, it looked likely to be us.”
There are no UEFA competitive matches at Under-18 level and McCaffrey is using these three matches at the friendly tournament to build the foundations for next season’s Under-19 UEFA Championship campaign which gets underway next Autumn.
Ireland will now face host nation France on Thursday, October 30 (7pm, local time) before completing the series against Denmark on Saturday, November 1 (3pm, local time).
Republic of Ireland Under-18 team v Serbia:
Harry Lee - Charlton Athletic
Johnny Dunleavy - Wolves
Kallum Keane - Derby County
Shaun Timmins - Birmingham City
Mark Connolly - Wolves
Paul Corry - Belvedere
John Sullivan - Bohemians
Jason Hughes - Limerick 37
Orrin Farrell - Kildare County
Ronan Murray - Ipswich Town
Charlie Collins - MK Dons.
Substitutes:
Joe Mason - Plymouth Argyle for Collins (10 mins)
Robert Kiernan - Watford for Farrell (55 mins)
Graham Kelly - Derby County for Sullivan (Half-time)
Callum O’Shea - Charlton Athletic for Murray (90 mins)
Gerard Hanley - Galway United
Padraic Ormsby - Bohemians
Chris Kerr - Drogheda United. |
