News

Following last night’s senior international contest in Denmark, the Airtricity League Premier Division continued on Saturday evening with just three contests taking place.

Current leaders Dundalk travelled to bottom side Finn Harps and secured a comfortable three nil victory while second place Shamrock Rovers were held to a two all draw by Derry City in Tallaght Stadium having taken a two goal lead early in the second half. The third contest saw Sligo Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic play out a one all draw in the Showgrounds.

                            P   W  D  L   F   A   G/D  Pts
Dundalk                    21  15  4  2  40  11   29    49
Shamrock Rovers            20  14  2  4  32  12   20    44
Bohemian                   20  10  4  6  23  15    8    34
Derry City                 20   8  7  5  30  21    9    31
St Patrick’s Athletic      21   7  7  7  17  19   -2    28
Sligo Rovers               20   6  7  7  19  26   -7    25
Waterford                  18   6  5  7  26  26    –    23
Cork City                  20   6  5  9  16  23   -7    23
UCD                        19   3  1 15  13  34  -21    10
Finn Harps                 21   2  4 15  19  48  -29    10

All ten Airtricity League First Division sides were in action on Saturday evening.

Current leaders Shelbourne made the short journey South to face Bray Wanderers in the Carlisle Grounds at 3pm and scored the only goal for victory while second place Longford Town welcomed bottom side Wexford to Flancare Park for a 7pm kick-off and they also scored the only goal for success. Third place Drogheda United defeated Athlone Town by four goals to two in United Park at 5pm while fourth place Cabinteely were held to a two all draw by visitors Cobh Ramblers in Stradbrook at 7pm. The remaining fixture pitched Limerick and Galway United into action at 6.30pm in the Markets Field with the hosts prevailing by two goals to one.

                            P   W  D  L   F   A    G/D  Pts
Shelbourne                 16  11  1  4  24  12    12    34
Longford Town              16  10  3  3  20   8    12    33
Drogheda United            16  10  2  4  35  21    14    32
Limerick                   16   8  4  4  19  15     4    28 
Cabinteely                 16   8  4  4  21  20     1    28
Bray Wanderers             16   8  1  7  20  13     7    25
Cobh Ramblers              16   4  4  8  20  25    -5    16
Galway United              16   4  1 11  17  22    -5    13
Athlone Town               16   3  2 11  17  37   -20    11
Wexford                    16   2  2 13  15  35   -20     8

 

Ireland garnered an excellent European Championship qualifying  point with a battling display against Denmark in Copenhagen this Friday evening. Manager Mick McCarthy named the same starting eleven that defeated Georgia in our last UEFA qualifier for the contest in the Parken Stadium.

While still very early days, McCarthy’s style offers a more positive approach which, hopefully, will develop further in the future. This evening’s opponents Denmark are currently ranked tenth in the world and did dominate possession and created a number of chances but their finishing was wayward. Ireland defended doggedly with ‘man of the match’ Shane Duffy imperious in defence.

Ireland’s defences were finally breached after seventy six minutes by Danish substitute Hojbjerg of Southampton who scored with a well timed header. Our side did not crumble and manager McCarthy made some positive attacking changes as we sought the equaliser. His reward duly arrived on eighty five minutes when substitute Alan Judge first earned and then delivered an exquisite free kick which was powerfully headed home by the excellent Duffy.

Darren Randolph was again excellent between the posts making one very crucial save and blameless for the conceded goal. Alongside the colossus Duffy in defence, Seamus Coleman and Richard Keogh did little wrong while Enda Stevens did have a more difficult evening with the Danes clearly focussing much of their attacking threat down his channel. The central midfield trio of Jeff Hendrick, Glenn Whelan and Conor Hourihane performed resolutely but did struggle somewhat with some aspects of the Danish attacking threat. The front trio of Robbie Brady, David McGoldrick and James McClean also made their contribution as we sought to push further up the pitch to put the opposition under pressure.

Substitute Alan Judge made a significant contribution by earning and delivering the free kick for the equaliser but sadly for the luckless Dubliner he broke his wrist and is out of contention for Monday’s encounter with Gibraltar. The attacking substitute duo of Scott Hogan and Callum Robinson, while in the fray for a very limited period, did pressurise the Danish defence which enabled us to see out the match and indeed look the more threatening side in the final minutes.

While there remains much to address and improve upon, tonight’s draw can only further boost the confidence of players, management and fans as we now head into Monday evening’s meeting with Gibraltar at the Aviva Stadium.

Team:
D Randolph; S Coleman(C), S Duffy, R Keogh, E Stevens; J Hendrick, G Whelan, C Hourihane; R Brady, D McGoldrick, J McClean

Substitutes:
A Judge for Brady 66′
S Hogan for Hourihane 82′
C Robinson for McGoldrick 88′

Kevin Long was the player from the 24 man travelling squad who did not make the bench for this evening’s contest.

Earlier this afternoon in Tbilisi, hosts Georgia defeated visitors Gibraltar by three goals to nil.

                     P  W  D  L  F  A  G/D  Pts
Republic of Ireland  3  2  1  0  3  1   2    7
Switzerland          2  1  1  0  5  3   2    4
Georgia              3  1  0  2  3  3   –    3
Denmark              2  0  2  0  4  4   –    2
Gibraltar            2  0  0  2  0  4  -4    0 

Following their opening victory over China, our U21 side played out a scoreless draw with one of the pre-tournament favourites, Mexico, in our second Group C contest at the Stade Parsemain this Thursday evening.

Mexico, who included many of the players who finished as runners-up in last year’s tournament, won their encounter with Bahrain by two goals to nil and provided us with a a much sterner test than our opening opponents.

With Aaron Connolly suffering with a bug, it was not surprising that manager Stephen Kenny chose to replace him with Norwich City striker Simon Power in his only change to the eleven that started the China game on Monday. Connolly did replace Power after the half-time break and was again prominent.

With both sides well nigh cancelling each other out, there were very few real chances with the closest to a goal being a Jairo Torres free-kick which crashed off the crossbar midway through the second half, while Adam Idah made a horrible mess of an excellent chance on seventeen minutes, screwing his shot wildly from six yards out.

Goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher looked much more assured than he did on Monday while captain Jayson Molumby was perpetual motion personified in midfield. The silky technique and passing skills of midfielder Connor Ronan were a joy to behold and made him the standout player on the pitch.

In the earlier Group C contest, China defeated Bahrain by four goals to one. Ireland complete their Group C challenge against Bahrain in Stade Jules Ladoumegue at 2pm on Sunday afternoon, knowing victory will assure them of a semi-final place.

Team:
C Kelleher; L O’Connor, D O’Shea, C Masterson, D Leahy; J Molumby(C), C Coventry; Z Elbouzedi, C Ronan, S Power; A Idah.
Substitutes:
A Connolly for Power 46′
A Drinan for Idah 83′

           P W D L F A GD Pts
Ireland    2 1 1 0 4 1  3  4
Mexico     2 1 1 0 2 0  2  4
China      2 1 0 1 5 5  –  3
Bahrain    2 0 0 2 1 6 -5  0

 

The surviving twenty four members of our senior squad have arrived in Copenhagen for Friday evening’s EURO 2020 qualifier against our hosts Denmark.
The squad completed another training exercise this morning and will have a gentle workout at the 38,065 capacity Parken Stadium early this evening.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Darren Randolph(Middlesbrough), Sean McDermott(Kristiansund BK), James Talbot(Bohemian)
Defenders: Seamus Coleman(Everton), Greg Cunningham(Cardiff City), Matt Doherty(Wolverhampton Wanderers), Shane Duffy(Brighton & Hove Albion), John Egan(Sheffield United), Richard Keogh(Derby County), Kevin Long(Burnley), Enda Stevens(Sheffield United)
Midfielders: Robbie Brady(Burnley), Josh Cullen(West Ham United), Ronan Curtis(Portsmouth), Jeff Hendrick(Burnley), Conor Hourihane(Aston Villa), Alan Judge(Ipswich Town), James McClean(Stoke City), Callum O’Dowda(Bristol City), Glenn Whelan(Unattached)
Forwards: Scott Hogan(Aston Villa), Sean Maguire(Preston North End), David McGoldrick(Sheffield United), Callum Robinson(Preston North End)

A hamstring injury has forced the withdrawal of Southampton striker Shane Long from the Republic of Ireland squad for the upcoming EURO 2020 qualifying contests with Denmark and Gibraltar.

He is now the fourth withdrawal from the original squad following the earlier departures of Alan Browne, Luca Connell and goalkeeper Mark Travers.

Head Coach Stephen Kenny saw his Republic of Ireland U21 side commence their 2019 Toulon Tournament challenge with an impressive four one victory over the China U23 side managed by the legendary Dutchman Guus Hiddinck in the Stade de Lattre this Monday afternoon.

Ireland sprinted out of the blocks with the opening goal scored by Zach Elbouzedi of Waterford after just 33 seconds with Brighton & Hove Albion striker Aaron Connolly the creator. Just four minutes later, Connolly added the second goal. China did recover a little and reduced the arrears following a corner kick after nineteen minutes. Ireland remained composed throughout the remainder of the half in sultry conditions and a disappointingly bumpy pitch.

Ireland continued to dominate throughout the second half, retaining quality possession coupled with accurate passing. Ten minutes into the half, Ireland added the third goal, scored by Adam Idah of Norwich City from the penalty spot following a handball offence. Idah reprised his action on eighty two minutes with another penalty conversion, again following a handball incident.

Stephen Kenny will be delighted with the performance of his young charges but will be conscious that our next opponents Mexico, three time winners of the competition, will provide a much sterner test.

Team: Caoimhin Kelleher(Liverpool); Lee O’Connor(Manchester United), Conor Masterson(Liverpool), Dara O’Shea(West Bromwich Albion), Darragh Leahy(Bohemian); Conor Coventry(West Ham United), Jayson Molumby [C] (Brighton & Hove Albion); Zach Elbouzedi(Waterford), Connor Ronan(Wolverhampton Wanderers) Aaron Connolly(Brighton & Hove Albion); Adam Idah(Norwich City)

Substitutes:
Jason Knight(Derby County)for Ronan 63′
Simon Power(Norwich City) for Connolly
Aaron Drinan(Ipswich Town on loan at Waterford),
Jamie Lennon (St Patricks Athletic) for Molumby 84′.

In the other opening Group C contest, pre Tournament favourites Mexico defeated Bahrain by two goals to nil.

           P  W  D  L  F  A   G/D  Pts
Ireland    1  1  0  0  4  1    3    3
Mexico     1  1  0  0  2  0    2    3
Bahrain    1  0  0  1  0  2   -2    0
China      1  0  0  1  1  4   -3    0

Our Republic of Ireland U21 side, under the guidance of Head Coach Stephen Kenny, left Dublin on Saturday afternoon for their short journey to the South of France where they will compete in the prestigious twelve nation Toulon Tournament over the next two weeks.

Goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, who was on the substitute bench for Liverpool as they lifted the European Champions Cup in Madrid last night, will be able to flash his winners medal when he links up with the squad later today.

Ireland will contest Group C with the China U23 Olympic Squad, whom we face in our opening match at 2.30pm(Irish time) on Monday afternoon the 3rd June in the Stade de Lattre. We then take on Mexico, who will also field their U23 Olympic Side, in our second contest at 6.30pm(Irish time) on Thursday the 6th June in the Stade Parsemain. We complete our Group challenge against Bahrain on Sunday the 9th June in the Stade Jules Ladoumegue at 2pm(Irish time).

The three group winners together with the best runner-up will contest the semi-finals with the remaining eight nations playing off for position.