Soccer Scene

Change:  Move to:
08.04.2010 at 19:30 Tolka Park Attendance:
Rep of Ireland Under 19 1 - 0 Poland
Referee: Philip Caschara Friendly / T/S-match

Goalscorers
Daniel Kearns (58)
None
Opening squads
Gerard Hanley
Robert Kiernan
Shaun Timmins
Padraic Ormsby
Gavin Gunning
Conor Hourihane
Aaron Doran
Daniel Kearns
Jamil Adam
Charlie Collins
James Keohane
Socha,
Szalek,
Czekaj,
Olesky,
Kaminski,
Salamon,
Borysiuk,
Mozdzen,
Holota,
Figiel,
Podrygala.
Substitutes
Cian Bolger
Shane Mc Eleney
Gary Burke
Conor Henderson
Thomas Mc Bride
Ronan Murray
Ryan Brennan
Substitutions
Ronan Murray -> Charlie Collins (46)
Conor Henderson -> James Keohane (46)
Thomas Mc Bride -> Conor Hourihane (65)
Gary Burke -> Daniel Kearns (65)
Cian Bolger -> Robert Kiernan (76)
Ryan Brennan -> Jamil Adam (76)
Shane Mc Eleney -> Shaun Timmins (84)
None
Yellow cards
None. None
Red cards
None. None
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
Republic of Ireland 1 Poland 0

A second half goal by Republic of Ireland striker Daniel Kearns at Tolka Park on Thursday night made it two wins from this week's double-header friendly against Poland. 416857

The pair of victories in their final warm-up games will give the Irish a boost ahead of the UEFA Elite qualifiers which takes place in Ukraine from May 26-31 against England, Bosnia-Herzegovina and mini-group hosts.

Sean McCaffrey's side enjoyed the majority of possession and the best chances of the opening half. In the 13th minute the Republic of Ireland's Aaron Doran gave a long ball across the box to Daniel Kearns whose perfectly weighted pass found Conor Hourihane at the edge of the 18 yard area. Unfortunately, Hourihane could only watch as his shot was tipped round the post by Pawel Socha in the Polish gol.

From the resultant corner, the Polish defence were thanking Mateusz Mozden for clearing Gavin Gunning's powerful header header off the line.

Poland were unlucky not to score with just eight minutes left in the half when Gunning's mistimed header across the face of his own goal teed up Polish captain Tomasz Holota, whose header forced a superb save from Irish keeper Ger Hanley.

It was much the same in the second half with Ireland controlling the pace of the game from midfield.

It took an Irish attack of sublime quality in the 58th minute to break the deadlock. Substitute Conor Henderson split the vistors' defence with a threaded pass to Doran on the left, who in turn found Kearns in the box with his back to goal. The West Ham United forward turned his marker brilliantly and fired a low shot past Socha in the Poland goal.

Poland still posed a threat and, in the 66th minute, substitute Michal Zyro's shot zipped just wide of the Irish goal.

However, the visitors were quickly on the back foot when Doran, who was outstanding on the night, had a long range effort two minutes later that just went wide of the target.

Despite the loss of centre-half and captain Robert Kiernan to injury, the Irish defended well for the remainder of the game leaving Poland with only scraps to feed off and apart from shots by Blad and Zyro that flew over, goalkeeper Ger Hanley was seldom troubled as Ireland recorded their second victory in three days.

Daniel Kearns was delighted to score the winner on the night in only his second game under Sean McCaffrey.

He admitted: "Obviously it was brilliant for me to score on my first start." However, he was even happier with the team's performance over the two games "These games have been great preparation for the elite qualifying stage. We have a very tough group so it will be good to go into the qualifiers on the back of two good performances."


Republic of Ireland: Ger Hanley (Mervue United); Padraic Ormsby (Shamrock Rovers), Gavin Gunning (Rotherham United), Rob Kiernan (Kilmarnock), Shaun Timmins (Birmingham City); Aaron Doran (Blackburn Rovers), Jimmy Keohane (Wexford Youths), Conor Hourihane (Sunderland), Daniel Kearns (West Ham United); Jamil Adam (Barnsley), Charlie Collins (MK Dons)

Substitutions: Ronan Murray (Ipswich Town) for Collins, Conor Henderson (Arsenal) for Keohane (both h/t), Thomas McBride (Derry City) for Hourihane, Gary Burke (Bohemians) for Kearns (both 65 mins), Cian Bolger (Leicester City) for Kiernan, Ryan Brennan (Drogheda United) for Adam (both 76 mins), Shane McEleney (Derry City) for Timmons (84 mins)

Poland: Socha, Szalek, Czekaj, Olesky, Kaminski, Salamon, Borysiuk, Mozdzen, Holota, Figiel, Podrygala.
Powered by tplSoccerStats 2.3.1.1 © 2003 TPL Design