European Qualifier Elite Stage
08.06.2013 at 18:30 -
PAUL DOOLINS Republic of Ireland U19 side meet Slovakia in their second game of the UEFA U19 Championships Elite Round tomorrow at FK Srem, Jakovo (16.30 Irish Time).
The Irish produced an excellent display in their opening game to draw 2-2 with Switzerland after first half goals from Sam Byrne and Kieran Sadlier. Doolin was a little disappointed his side did not hang on for the three points but is content that qualification for the finals in Lithuania this summer is still in their hands.
“We were excellent. Particularly in the first half. We could have been 3-0 up but Will Hayhurst hit the crossbar with a header,” he explained.
“In fairness, Switzerland are a decent team. They’ve such a powerful group of players. We may have done better for their goal late in the first half but with young players things like that can happen.
“I do feel that we’re not playing with an even deck being out of season when the Swiss are in the middle of their season. A lot of our lads haven’t played for a while. Only one of their players plays outside of Switzerland so they’ve a lot of time to prepare.
“We had a great chance with Kenny McEvoy to win it but they had some chances too. We played really well in the first half. Last year we were out in the first game last year. If we can win tomorrow we can take it until the last day.”
Slovakia were beaten 4-0 by hosts Serbia in their opening fixture but Doolin feels that scoreline wasn’t a true reflection of their quality and he expects a test in Jakovo.
“We’ll just focus on the Slovakia game. It’s now more important than anything. The Slovaks are good team. Tommy Connolly and Martin Doyle were at that game. It was close until the Serbs got a penalty and they ran out 4-0,” he said.
“We’ve no injuries or suspensions so that’s good. When you’ve three games in such a short space of time you’d do well to get 90 minutes from some players so we may freshen it up. We got two fantastic goals so hopefully we can build on that and get the result we need tomorrow. It won’t be easy. They will believe they have to win to stay in it.”
Republic of Ireland U19 Squad:
Ian Lawlor (Manchester City)
Danny Rogers (Aberdeen)
Steven Smith (Leicester City)
Pierce Sweeney (Reading)
Noe Baba (Fulham)
Seán Long (Reading)
Shane Griffin (Reading)
Seán Kavanagh (Fulham)
Carel Tiofack (Cadiz CF)
Luke Gallagher (Burnley)
Kenneth McEvoy (Tottenham Hotspur)
Kieran Sadlier (West Ham Utd)
Bradley Garmston (West Bromwich Albion)
Sam Byrne (Manchester Utd)
Brandon Miele (Newcastle Utd)
William Hayhurst (Preston North End)
Seán Maguire (West Ham Utd)
Adam Evans (Burnley)
FIXTURES
UEFA U19 Elite Round Group Two
Thursday, June 6
Republic of Ireland U19 2 Switzerland U19 2
Saturday, June 8
Republic of Ireland U19 v Slovakia U19
FK Srem, Jakovo. KO 17.30pm Local Time (16.30 Irish Time)
Tuesday, June 11
Republic of Ireland U19 v Serbia U19
FK Srem, Jakovo. KO 17.30pm Local Time (16.30 Irish Time)
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