THE Republic of Ireland U18 side went down to a narrow 1-0 defeat by Portugal in the second of two friendly games in Bonitos this afternoon.
18th Dec 2014
Portugal 1-0 Republic of Ireland
THE Republic of Ireland U18 side went down to a narrow 1-0 defeat by Portugal in the second of two friendly games in Bonitos this afternoon.
Paul Doolin’s side had lost 2-0 when the sides met on Tuesday and again it was a stern test for the young Irish side.
West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Evan Moran made a number of important saves to keep his side in the game and had his first test in the third minute when he denied André Ribeiro in a one on one situation.
Moran then haqd to scramble to push a long distance effort from Pedro Delgado wide in the 16th minute then four minutes later Moran bravely denied Buta after a goal-mouth scramble.
Portugal finally opened the scoring in the 27th minute when a left wing cross from Gonçalo Rodrigues dropped for Pedro Delgado to side foot home.
Three minutes later Moran showed his quality again to keep out a close range effort from João Carvalho after the attacker was put through Fernando Fonseca.
Five minutes before the break Ireland created a decent opportunity when Antaine O Laoi sent Richie Purdy through on an angle. His low cross flew across the face of goal and just evaded the onrushing Irish support.
Two minutes after the break Malike Benrouguibi connected with a cross by Graham Kelly that was unlucky not to level matters. Keeper João Gomes did well to keep it out.
Four minutes later Moran did well again to parry a powerful strike by André Ribeiro but after that the sides started to cancel each other out.
Ireland finished strongly with George Poynton volleying narrowly wide from the edge of the box in the 80th minute then two minutes later Benrouguibi fired in a free-kick from out wide that almost went straight in the net but was eventually scrambled clear by the keeper.
Doolin was pleased with the opportunity to look at his players ahead of next year’s competitive action commences at U19 level. He said: "It was a tough test for us. Portugal were an excellent side. We made a lot of changes to give the people who didn't start the last day an opportunity.
"We did have a chance to level but in fairness they did test our keeper a few times. Evan did well. There is a bit of a gulf between us and them so we did well to contain them. We did compete well with them but there's a physical difference that’s obvious.
"There's a bit of work to do for next year's U19 campaign. They rate this group highly in Portugal so it's great credit to our lads. But we’d a lot of part-time players in our squad and the step up is massive. It's been a good opportunity overall.”
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Evan Moran; Colm Deasy, Evan Osam, Jack Tuite, Stephen Best, Graham Kelly, Antaine O’Laoi, Kyron Farrell, Malike Benrouguibi, Richard Purdy, Khius Metz. Subs: George Poynton for Farrell 46 mins; Nathan Corkery for Purdy 67; Ross Taheny for Osam 79.
RESULTS
Tuesday, December 16
U18 International Friendly
Portugal 2-0 Republic of Ireland, Estádio Municipal, Abrantes
Thursday, December 18
U18 International Friendly |
