Friendly
21.02.2017 at 19:30 - Maes Tegid Bala Town FC, Wales
Jim Crawford's side is made up of players who were selected from the FAI Inter-Provincial Youths tournament which took place in Dublin last October. Players in that competition come from outside of the SSE Airtricity League structure but they remain eligible for the Home-based U18s if they subsequently move on to that league.
Wales won this competition on penalties last year after two keenly contested fixtures in the South East. The Welsh won 1-0 at Tramore AFC then the Irish won 3-2 at the RSC to level matters 3-3 on aggregate.
"The fact that there is a trophy on offer is a nice incentive for the players but overall the main priority for these games is to give players an opportunity to taste international football and provide them with a chance to show what they can do at a higher level," said Crawford.
"These games have produced players who have progressed on to the SSE Airtricity League and then onto the U19 international side in the past so it would be lovely to think some of the players we have here can follow in the footsteps of the likes of Alan Browne or Pierce Sweeney who used it as a stepping stone in their careers.
"We've worked hard as a staff to bring the players together for assessments and played training games against Bray Wanderers U19s and Shelbourne U17s and we've been delighted with how much learning the players have taken on board.
"The aim for the first game is to get a performance based on the principles of play that we've worked on with the players - defence, attack and the transitions - and if we can get that we believe we have players capable of doing well here this week."
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Adam Kenny (Crumlin United), Daniel Houghton (Derry City), Arron Legget (Galway United), Jason Hogan (Ballingcollig), Daniel Grant (Bangor Celtic), Greg Barrett (Blarney United), Eoin Hunter (Cabinteely), Michael Friel (Clonmany Shamrocks), Ethan Hurley (College Corinthians), Tomas Collins (Cork City), Dylan Fleming (Gorey Rangers), Jordan O'Reilly (Hardwicke), Lee Jordan (Hardwicke), Leon Hayes (Hardwicke), Karl Fitzsimons (Drogheda United), Keith Campbell (Home Farm), Tom McCarthy (Home Farm), Jordan Muldoon (Merville United), Adam Duffy (Duncarnagh), Matthew Barrett (Oranmore).
FIXTURES
John Coughlan Memorial Cup
Tuesday, February 21
Wales v Republic of Ireland, Bala Town FC (7.30pm)
Thursday, February 23
Wales v Republic of Ireland, Latham Park, Newtown AFC (2.00pm)
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