Serbia & Montenegro 1 Republic of Ireland 0
The Republic of Ireland U16 team lost their second match of the tournament when beaten narrowly, on Wednesday, by Serbia & Montenegro in the Tournament of Gradisca. They had been beaten by Croatia on the previous day.
Serbia attacked from the kick-off and they had a penalty appeal turned down within the first minute.Kevin O’Brien in the Irish goal came out bravely to win the ball at the feet of the striker, and despite the Serbians attempts to influence the referee, he waved away their protests.
Ian Daly had a good chance to open the scoring in the 13 minute when he headed just over from a Gareth Matthews cross.
There were few clear chances in the first half, with the best opportunities coming from set-pieces.
The Serbians height posed problems to the Irish defence from corners, but they rarely troubled goalkeeper O’Brien.
Some good ball control and running from Conor McCormack, three minutes before the break, saw Craig Duggan with a chance but his shot was saved by the Serbian goalkeeper.
Ireland continued their dominance in the second half, starting brightly.
Duggan saw his powerful shot blocked down on the edge of the area with just a minute gone
Immediately afterwards good work on the right wing from Matthews, saw him link with Daly, but the Serbian keeper was alert to the danger and just beat McCormack to Daly’s pass..
Serbia & Montenegro were finding it difficult to keep possession and were always under pressure from a hard-working Irish team.
But then the Irish were shocked when Serbia, against the run of play, took the lead with eleven minutes to go. A speculative shot from outside the box found its way into the left bottom corner of the net.
Ireland continued to keep the pressure on the Serbians as they chased an equaliser.
With a minute left, a corner from the left was missed by the Serbian keeper and the ball was cleared from the goal-line. The referee waved away protests from the Irish, who were adamant that the ball had crossed the line.
In the other game in the group, Croatia defeated Latvia 2-1. That result means that if Croatia beat Serbia & Montenegro on Thursday (15.30 hrs) and Ireland defeat Latvia by more than one goal, Croatia and Ireland (19.00hrs) will qualify for the semi-finals.
Ireland’s team:
Kevin O’Brien Douglas Hall (Thorp 39mins)
Gareth Matthews Cherry Orchard
Niall McArdle Home Farm (Nolan 39mins)
David Joyce Castlebar Celtic
Paul Honohan Wilton United
James O’Brien Cherry Orchard
Kevin Dawson Belvedere (Doyle 54mins)
Michael Collins Cherry Orchard
Conor McCormack Bellurgan
Ian Daly Home Farm
Craig Duggan Kilreen Celtic
Substitutes:
Daniel Langan Belvedere
Mark Nolan Shelbourne
Dean Marshall Shelbourne
Kurtis Byrne Cherry Orchard
Shane O’Connor Wilton United
James Doyle Home Farm
Kieron Thorp Charlton Athletic |
