27.03.2007 at 19:00 Venlo
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Attendance: |
Netherlands |
1 - 0
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Under 21 |
Referee: Mr. F. Brych (Germany) |
Friendly-match |
Waterman; Janse, Vlaar, Kruiswijk, Drenthe, Maduro, Beerens, Sno, Rigters, Schilder, Bakkal, |
Darren Quigley
Stephen O Halloran
Joe O Cearuill
Tony Kane
Darren O Dea
Stephen Ward
Darron Gibson
Stephen Quinn
Paul Keegan
Jim O Brien
Billy Clarke
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Netherlands U21 1 – 0 Rep of Ireland
The Republic of Ireland’s under-21 side had a double-dose of bad luck when they missed a penalty and had a man incorrectly sent-off in a friendly loss to Netherlands tonight.
Don Givens’ young guns gave a Dutch team who were, on average, two years older a real battle in Venlo.
But the Irish had no luck as they saw a first half Stephen Ward penalty saved, then had Stephen O’Halloran shown a late red in error for a foul that he never made.
The Dutch used this game as a preparation match ahead of this summer’s UEFA Championship finals.
Ireland gave starts to Darron Gibson, Darren O’Dea and Stephen Quinn, who have been in senior international squads recently, with Darren Randolph on the bench.
Ward, one of two over-age Irish players drafted in for the game, had a decent effort saved by goalkeeper Boy Waterman in the 15th minute after a lively start by the visiting side.
The penalty incident came in the 31st minute when Ward was played through by Tony Kane and was taken down by Waterman.
Waterman made up for his mistake by guessing correctly to keep out Ward’s spot-kick.
The Irish got a rare break in first half injury time when Robbert Schilder hit the post with a rasping drive from 30 yards.
Netherlands grabbed their only goal in the 71st minute when Feyenoord left-back Drenthe curled a stunning free-kick from the edge of the box past the despairing dive of Randolph.
Substitute goalkeeper Randolph produced an excellent stop with his feet to deny Jeremian Lens in the 77th minute.
O’Halloran’s night finished early in the 82nd minute for an apparent trip on Roy Beerens that was shown on television to have been an error as the winger tripped over his own feet.
Down to ten men, the Irish continued to battle on and Randolph made another top-class save to push a drive by Drenthe over in the 87th minute.
Manager Givens was full of praise for his young side afterwards.
“We didn’t deserve a defeat from that game but it was a very good performance overall against an experienced Dutch side,” he said.
“I feel particularly sorry for Stephen O’Halloran for a sending off that was harsh in the extreme. He said that he’d never touched the lad and the replays backed him up.”
Netherlands: Waterman; Janse, Vlaar, Kruiswijk, Drenthe, Maduro, Beerens, Sno, Rigters, Schilder, Bakkal. Substitues: Lens for Sno 4 mins; Donk for Kruiswijk 46; Zuiverloon for Janse 46; Jong-a-Pin for Bakkal 46; Janssen for Rigters 78.
Republic of Ireland: Quigley (UCD); Kane (Blackburn), O’Halloran (Aston Villa), O’Cearuill (Arsenal), O’Dea (Celtic), Gibson (Manchester Utd), Keegan (Drogheda Utd), Quinn (Sheffield Utd), O’Brien (Celtic), Ward (Wolves), Clarke (Ipswich). Substitues: Randolph (Charlton) for Quigley 46; Rooney (Stoke City) for Ward 72; Keogh (Bristol City) for O’Cearuill 81; Powell (Bohemians) for O’Brien 83. |
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