The Netherlands 2 Republic of Ireland 1
John Morling’s Irish U15 side are in Holland this week for a double international friendly against their Dutch counterparts and the young “Boys in Green” can count themselves unlucky that they were defeated despite a battling second half performance at the Sportpark, Mulderssingel on Tuesday.
The Irish almost took the lead in the opening minutes when Belvedere’s Kealon Dillon made a bursting run through the Dutch defence and with the goal at his mercy, he unselfishly squared to Michael Drennan in the box but the Dutch defence were quick to recover and they snuffed out the impending attack.
With home advantage, the Netherlands took the game to Morling’s side and dominated possession for large periods and eventually took the lead from the penalty spot with 20 minutes on the clock. In a well worked move, the Dutch set up a shot from outside the box and the powerful effort struck the arm of Arsenal’s Steven Smith and the referee instantly pointed to the spot and Dutch striker, Achabar made no mistake with his effort making it 1-0.
The Irish were level after 39 minutes when Jamie Smith pounced on a rebound in the box after Evergreen’s Michael Drennan had forced the Dutch keeper to paw away his powerful header with just one minute remaining in the half.
The Irish emerged invigorated following the half-time break and they bossed the Dutch midfield for large sustained periods of the second half. Kealon Dillon had a glorious opportunity to put the Irish ahead but his tremendous effort went agonizingly over the bar.
The Dutch regained the lead after 71 minutes when an in-swinging free-wick was launched into the Irish box and Janssen was on hand to head the ball powerfully past Joe Coll in the Irish goal.
As the game came to a close, the Irish piled the pressure on the Dutch and Morling’s men had two great chances to earn a share of the spoils at the death as Ireland came close from two separate corners.
The Republic of Ireland will be looking to reverse the result next Thursday as the two sides come head to head once again at the Sportpark, Mulderssingel in Holland which kicks-off at 11am (local time)
Republic of Ireland
Joe Coll - Glenea United
Steven Smith - Arsenal
Jamie Smith - Cherry Orchard
Kealon Dillon - Belvedere
Brandon Miele - Cherry Orchard
Jason Keane - Bohemians
Darren O'Donoghue - St Francis
Jack Doherty - Waterford Bohemians
Michael Drennan - Evergreen
Eoin Hyland - Belvedere
Nathan Matthews - St Josephs
Substitutes
Ian Lawlor - Home Farm
Jamie McGlynn - Home Farm (on for Miele, 75 mins)
Michael Hyland - Millwall
Drew Armstrong - St Josephs (on for Matthews, 51 mins)
Carel TioFack - Ballincollig (on for Doherty, 51 mins)
Ryan Coombes - Cherry Orchard (on for Dillon, 75 mins)
Luke Gallagher - Home Farm (On for Jamie Smith, 66 mins)
Under-15 Friendly Internationals
Tuesday, April 21
Republic of Ireland 1-2 Holland
Football club WHC
Sportpark Mulderssingel
Thursday, April 23 (11.00hrs)
Republic of Ireland v Holland
Football club WHC
Sportpark Mulderssingel. |
