A 10 man Republic of Ireland defeated Denmark in a friendly at a packed Turners Crosss tonight.
It was the first ever game played under lights at Cork City's ground and it drew a capacity crowd of eight thousand fans. who were not disappointed.
The Republic went 2-0 up with goals from Celtics Jim Goodwin after 20 minutes and Ben Burgess of Blackburn Rovers after 53.
With 17 minutes remaining Jim Goodwin handled the ball after keeper Joe Murphy was beaten.
The centre back was sent off and Denmark's Jesper Haakonsson scored the resulting penalty.
The Danes equalised in the 84th minute afater a beautiful chip from Kenneth Larsen.
However Cork's Joe Gamble who came on as a substitute in the second half scored a last minute winner to secure a great victory for Don Given's side.
U21 INTERNATIONALS REP OF IRELAND 3; DENMARK 2 READING'S Joe Gamble, on his international debut in his home town, was the match-winning hero for Don Givens' U21 team when they beat Denmark in a five-goal thriller at Turner's Cross last night.
Gamble, just turned 20, came on as the half-time substitute for midfielder Dwane Matthis and popped home the Irish winner deep into injury time.
It was a night of wild celebration at full-time as the home supporters invaded the pitch to celebrate a famous Irish win in what was the first match played at Turner's Cross under floodlights.
Gamble proved to be the saviour when he pulled the game out of the fire for Ireland who had seen the Danes dance with delight after they came from two goals down to make it 2-2 in the first minute of added time.
Ireland, at the start of a seven-match build-up to the European Championships, opened the scoring midway through the first half when Jim Goodwin scored from Tommy Butler's corner kick.
Goodwin proved to be something of a hero and a villain when he was sent off for deliberate handball after 78 minutes when Denmark's Hakansson punished the home team, scoring from a spot kick.
On the hour, the Irish had raced into a two-goal lead when Blackburn's Ben Burgess turned home Goodwin's header from another Butler corner.
Denmark took heart from Goodwin's misfortune to make it 2-1 from the spot kick and they were sensationally level at 2-2 as the game eased into injury time when substitute Kenneth Larsen punished a mistake by Tranmere's Joe Murphy. |
