The Republic of Ireland were held to a scoreless draw by hosts Croatia in Crikvenica on the Adriatic Coast yesterday evening.
The Irish were the dominant team throughout and despite the hot conditions should have come away with the victory.
With 15 minutes gone, a quick counter-attack from the Irish saw David play the ball wide to Aaron Doran, his low cross from the left found Greg Cunningham but his shot went just wide of the right post.
Croatia were nearly gifted a chance five minutes later when John Dunleavy was caught in possession by the Croatia striker outside the Irish area, but Derby County’s Kallum Keane was on hand to make a crucial tackle. Harry Lee, making his debut in the Irish goals, got low down to his left to keep out a Croatian free-kick on 22 minutes.
Ireland looked capable of creating opportunities each time they went forward. 25 minutes in, Chelsea bound Conor Clifford through ball put Ronan Murray down the right wing, Mikinac was alert to collect his cross.
The Croatian strike-force were being given little room by the Irish back four, centre-back Keane won possession in defence and played the ball forward to Doran, who played a high ball through to Murray, but his first touch allowed the Croatian keeper to save.
Ireland were lucky not to fall behind after 30 minutes. Lee, under pressure from the Croatian’s, dropped a cross from the left but some brave Irish defending saw the resulting shot being blocked for a corner. The Republic had chance to go into the lead 2 minutes before the break. A free from the left side of mid-field was played across to Niall Byrne. Byrne, after surviving three tackles, fed Blackburn’s Doran who pulled inside two Croatian defenders but saw his shot go wide of the left post.
Three minutes after the restart, Doran had another opportunity to put Ireland ahead. Some great defending from Mark Power saw him chase down his man and steal possession. He then went on a break-away to mid-field where he found Doran with his pass, but Doran’s shot from the edge of the box went just wide of Mikinac’s right post.
Ireland were not allowing Croatia any time to settle on the ball. David Cawley and Greg Cunningham combined to win the ball back in midfield. Cunningham broke forward and found Doran on the right wing. His cross found Ipswich Town’s Paul Murphy who headed against the crossbar, but the linesman adjudged him to be offside.
Dunleavy saved the Irish from going behind after 52 minutes. A back-pass to Lee was intercepted by the Croatian striker who managed to round the keeper but his goal-bound effort was cleared from the line by Dunleavy. A great passing move from Ireland 10 minutes later saw another scoring chance. Gavin Gunning played a free-kick across to Richie Towell on the right. Towell found Doran, and a neat one-two with Clifford saw Doran with a chance, but he shot wide.
With 64 minutes gone, Ireland should have gone one nil up. Murphy was dragged down inside the box and the referee correctly gave a penalty. Mark Power of Aston Villa stepped up, but saw Mikinac guess the right way and save his penalty. Murphy headed wide from a Doran cross with 6 minutes to go and Ireland despite being the better side, Ireland could not find the breakthrough for the win.
The two sides play again on Thursday at 16.00hrs(Irish Time)
Republic of Ireland 1. Harry Lee – Charlton Athletic 2. Niall Byrne – Shelbourne 3. Mark Power – Aston Villa 4. Kallum Keane – Derby County 5. John Dunleavy – Ballybofey United (YC) 6. Conor Clifford – Crumlin United 7. Aaron Doran – Blackburn Rovers 8. David Cawley – Ballina Town (YC) 9. Darragh Satelle – Crumlin United 10. Ronan Murray – Erris United 11. Greg Cunnigham – Mervue United (YC)
Substitutes 12. Gavin Gunning – Blackburn Rovers (Keane 55mins) 13. Richard Towell – Crumlin United (Byrne 50mins) 14. Callum O’Shea – Charlton Athletic (Cunnigham 60mins) 15. Gearoid Morrissey – Ringmahon Rangers (Cawley 77mins) 16. Mark Connors – Crumlin United 17. Paul Murphy – Ipswich Town (Murray 41mins) 18. David O’Brien – Crumlin United |