Under-19 Mens Friendlies Under 19 International Friendly |
SWEDEN 0 REPUBLIC OF IRELAND 1
The Republic of Ireland U19s had an excellent win over a highly rated Swedish side this evening in Sollentuna.
A goal from Fiacre Kelleher just before half-time was enough to give the Irish a deserved victory and manager Paul Doolin’s only quibble about the performance was the failure of his side not to put away more of the excellent chances they created during the 90 minutes.
“I am absolutely delighted with the win and the performance,” said manager Paul Doolin. “We had a lot of withdrawals before we came out and had one or two of the squad with us ruled out of this game as well so it was great to play as well as we did and also win the game. We fully deserved the win and probably should have won by more than one goal. Another pleasing thing was that we kept another clean sheet.
“This is another excellent result for this group as they beat Holland last month and also defeated the Czech Republic at U18 level last season. Our focus is obviously next month’s qualifiers but this is a good boost ahead of those games especially as this Swedish team finished third at the World U17 Cup in 2013.”
After containing some early pressure from the Swedes, the Irish soon got a grip on the game and a couple of excellent chances before opening the scoring just before half-time after a period of intense pressure which saw Sean Heaney’s effort cleared off the line. A corner from Brighton & Hove Albion’s Dessie Hutchison was headed home by Kelleher to put the Irish in the driving seat at half-time.
They continued where they left off in the second half and created a number of excellent chances but unfortunately failed to put them away.
The second match in this double-header will take place on Friday when the sides meet in Strangnas at 2pm (Irish Time).
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Harry Doherty (Brighton & Hove Albion); Noe Baba (Fulham), Sean Heaney (Shamrock Rovers), Fiacre Kelleher (Celtic), Shaun Donnellan (West Bromwich Albion); Connor Dimaio (Sheffield United), Harry Charsley (Everton), Reece Grego-Cox (QPR); Des Hutchinson (Brighton & Hove Albion), Joel Coustrain (Sheffield United), Frank Mulhern (Leeds United).
Subs: Jamie Mulhall (Longford Town) for Donnellan, Eoghan Stokes (Leeds United) for Cox, Ryan Manning (Galway) for Mulhern, Jack Hallahan (West Bromwich Albion) for Hutchinson. Unused Subs: Peter Burke (Sunderland), Regan Donelon (Sligo Rovers), Christopher Flanagan (Derry City).
Fixture
Friday, October 10, 2014
U19 International Friendly |
