Ireland finish bottom of group.
Rep of Ireland U17 0-2 Switzerland U17
The Republic of Irelands youngsters have failed to qualify for the second phase of the European Championship qualifiers after losing their final first-phase game to hosts Switzerland on Saturday.
A draw would have been sufficient for the Irish after Belarus only drew 1-1 with Austria, but Noel O’Reilly’s men fell to a disappointing 2-0 defeat despite creating a host of scoring opportunities.
There was an element of luck to the Swiss opener when Ireland goalkeeper Darren Randolph was adjudged to have carried the ball across the line after it came off the crossbar. The second goal sickened the Irish, who enjoyed plenty of possession but couldn’t find the target.
A rueful Irish manager said: “We haven’t created as many chances all week as we did in this match, but we didn’t take them and some of the decisions by the referee were crazy.”
Teams Pld W D L GF GA Pts
Austria 3 2 1 0 5 3 7
Belarus 3 1 1 1 2 2 4
Switzerland 3 1 0 2 3 3 3
Republic of Ireland 3 1 0 2 2 4 3 |
