The Republic of Ireland U18 side completed their campaign with a 4-1 loss to Sweden in Stalringen today.
4th Jun 2016
Tom Mohan’s side featured nine home-based players in the starting line-up. They were given a sharp lesson in international football early on and were 1-0 in the eighth minute when a cross was deflected into the Irish net by Eoghan Morgan.
The Irish then went 2-0 down two minutes later after Felix Beijmo found Isac Lindberg and he slotted the ball past Irish keeper Eric Donnelly.
Ireland settled down after that and grew into the game with home keeper Marko Johansson keeping out a header in the 20th minute.
Donnelly made a couple of decent stops before Ireland were caught on the break just before half-time as Lindberg found the net with a low strike from the edge of the box.
Ireland improved after the break and pulled one back in the 67th minute when Ronan Hale slipped through St Patrick’s Athletic striker Jamie Aherne and he slotted home with a neat finish after beating a defender.
Luke Wade-Slater struck the Swedish crossbar in the 75th minute as the Irish upped the tempo. Unfortunately for the Irish the Swedes added a fourth through Carl Johansson in the 88th minute.
"After a poor start we got back into then we conceded another just before half-time. We gave away cheap goals which was frustrating. They were the better side in the first half and capitalised on our mistakes," said Mohan.
"After the break we were better and scored a decent goal through Jamie Aherne then Luke Wade-Slater hit the bar and it was going well until we conceded the late goal.
"You've got to take the positives. It was about giving people an opportunity at this level. There were some good performances and we've learned a bit more about these players. We'll turn our heads to the UEFA U19 qualifiers in the autumn now."
IRELAND: Eric Donnelly, JJ Lunney, Jake Doyle-Hayes, Tristan Noack-Hofmann, Conor McCarthy, Eoghan Morgan (Luke Wade-Slater 73), Liam Brady (Ronan Hale 65), Jamie Aherne, Sean Boyd (Anthony Scully 81), Liam Scales, Simon Power.
RESULTS
U18 International Tournament
Thursday, June 2
Hungary 1-3 Republic of Ireland, Kastvallen, Sweden
Saturday, June 4
Sweden 4-1 Republic of Ireland, Stalringens ishall |
