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19.02.2008 at 19:30 Buckley Park
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Attendance: 450 |
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Rep of Ireland |
3 - 0
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Finland
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Referee: Sean Grant |
Friendly / TS-match |
Gerard Hanley
Johnny Dunleavy
Shaun Timmins
Pauric Ormsby
Mark Connolly
Robert Brady
Conor Clifford
Conor Hourihane
Gavan Holohan
Paul Murphy-91
Darragh Satelle
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Kelo,
Toivomaki,
Appel,
Nissinen,
Simpanen,
Poutiainen,
Schuller,
Rannankari,
Ring,
Alonen,
Hanhela. |
Under-17 Friendly International
Republic of Ireland 3-0 Finland
Paul Murphy 62
Lee-Jay Lynch 69, 85
Lee-Jay Lynch from Regional United in Limerick scored a brace on his International debut tonight to help Ireland’s Under-17 team defeat Finland in a friendly staged at Buckley Park, Kilkenny.
Finland had the first chance of note after five minutes when Tuomas Rannankari was left unmarked from a corner but his header lacked power.
The Irish took command from that point onwards with captain Conor Clifford the link-man for strikers Paul Murphy and Darragh Satelle.
Murphy looked lively in attack for Ireland and almost snatched the opening goal on 10 minutes. Shaun Timmons, playing on his debut for Ireland, played a cross-field pass from the left and Murphy drove a low volley from 20 yards yards which Finland goalkeeper Aku-Teppo Kelo gathered at the second attempt.
Irish captain Conor Clifford smashed a shot off the underside of the crossbar three minutes later after Murphy set him up with the cut-back to the edge of the penalty area.
Ireland began to probe the Finland defence and utilised the pace and skills of Robert Brady on the left flank to engineer many attacks before half-time.
Darragh Satelle couldn’t convert a cross shortly before the break despite being left free in the box and Mark Connolly was also culpable of missing a chance when he dragged a shot wide of the near post.
The home side picked up where they left off for the second half and deservedly took the lead after 62 minutes.
Murphy broke from midfield and slipped a pass to the substitute Greg Cunningham who sped past his marker on the left before pulling the ball back across goal from the end line for Murphy to blast home from eight yards.
Lee Jay Lynch came on as a substitute with 23 minutes left for Gavin Holohan and scored Ireland’s second goal two minutes later.
He showed a cool head to stay calm and drill a low drive past Finland goalkeeper from the right side of the penalty area.
Lynch repeated the trick with five minutes left, burying another shot beyond the 'keeper from an acute angle to wrap up a 3-0 victory.
Ireland will meet Finland again on Thursday at Buckley Park (7.30pm) in what will be their final warm-up game before next month’s UEFA Championship Elite stage qualifiers.
Ireland topped their European Championship first phase qualifying mini-group in September and have home advantage once more for the second, Elite, phase next month.
The Irish will open that segment of the qualifiers against Germany on 13 March at Terryland Park in Galway followed by a meeting with Greece two days later on 15 March at Lissywoolen Stadium in Athlone.
Their final group game comes on 18 March when they face Portugal back at Terryland Park. Only the winner of the pool will advance to the European finals which are to be staged in Turkey during May.
Ireland:Gerard Hanley (Salthill Devon), Pauric Ormsby (Crumlin United), Shaun Timmons (Birmingham City), John Dunleavy (Wolves), Mark Connolly (Wolves), Conor Clifford (Chelsea), Gavin Holohan (Cherry Orchard), Conor Hourihane (Sunderland), Darragh Satelle (Crumlin United), Paul Murphy (Ipswich Town), Robert Brady (Manchester United).
Substitutes: Greg Cunningham (Manchester City) for Brady (46 mins), John Sullivan (Crumlin United) for Hourihane (60 mins), Dean Kelly (Carrigaline) for Satelle (64 mins), Lee Jay Lynch (Regional Utd) for Holohan (67 mins), Kallum Keane (Derby County) for Clifford (84 mins)
Finland: Kelo, Toivomaki, Appel, Nissinen, Simpanen, Poutiainen, Schuller, Rannankari, Ring, Alonen, Hanhela.
Referee: Sean Grant. |
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