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23.04.2009 at 19:30 Tallaght Community Stadium
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Attendance: 1079 |
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Rep of Ireland |
4 - 2
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Poland
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Referee: Robert Rogers |
Friendly-match |
Sean McCaffrey’s Irish Under-17 side fought back to win an entertaining friendly at Tallaght Stadium. John Egan, Anthony O’Connor, Paul Whyte and Sean Brosnan grabbed Ireland’s goals.
The Irish had a lively opening and produced the first chance of note through Stephen Folan, who controlled a pass on 17 minutes and chipped the goalkeeper only to see the effort veer inches past the post.
Similar to the first match, Poland opened the scoring when, in the 21st minute, Patryk Schikowski was first to react and blast home after Ireland failed to deal with a long free-kick into the penalty box by Lukasz Kmiec.
Schikowski almost had a second goal nine minutes before the break as he got a clear sight at goal but two Irish defenders were well-placed to block the shot on the line.
Sean McCaffrey’s side upped the pace after the restart and were rewarded with two goals in quick succession.
Folan curled in a corner four minutes into the half which hung in the air long enough for John Egan to plant his header into the top corner for the equaliser.
Ireland had the lead three minutes later courtesy of another set-piece delivery from Folan. His wicked free-kick swung towards the far post and there was Anthony O’Connor, another centre-back, to connect and steer the ball home from close-range.
The goals continued to flow as Poland got back on terms within sixty seconds. Dominik Lenart weaved his way in from the left, leaving two defenders in his wake, before coolly slipping a shot beneath John Byrne in the Irish goal.
The Irish still looked capable of unlocking the Polish defence and they deservedly regained the lead on the hour mark.
A daring run into the box by substitute Pat McEleney caught the defence unawares and his cut-back from the end-line was tapped into the net by Paul Whyte.
Substitute Sean Brosnan netted his first International goal, a wonderful curling shot, in the final minute to wrap up a great victory for the Irish.
Rep of Ireland: Josh Byrne (Waterford Bohs); Sean Skelly (Belvedere), John Egan (Greenwood), Anthony O’Connor (Blackburn Rovers), John Disney (Stockport County); Stephen McDonnell (Celtic), Stephen Folan (Newcastle United), Craig Walsh (Cherry Orchard); Sean Stewart (St. Kevin’s Boys), Tom O’Halloran (Belvedere), Paul Whyte (Waterford Bohs).
Substitutes: Pat McEleney (Foyle Harps) for Walsh and Danny Joyce (Reading) for Disney (both h/t), Sean Brosnan (Castleisland) for Whyte (61 mins), Selcuk Tidim (St Pauli, Germany) for Skelly (65 mins)
Poland: Primel; Bres (Czekaj 61 mins), Szostko, Adamczyk (Czekaj 70 mins), Kaminski; Kmiec (Czekaj 64), Lisiecki (Charpek 27 mins), Lenart (Szala 53 mins), Dabrowski; Wszolek, Schikowski.
Referee: Robert Rogers.
Attendance: 1079. |
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