News

The draw for the group stage of the 2019 European U17 Championship Finals took place this Thursday evening in the Aviva Stadium, or the Dublin Arena as described by UEFA.

The sixteen finalists were drawn into four groups of four with the top two in each group progressing to the knock-out quarter-final stage.

Group A                          Group B              Group C               Group D
Republic of Ireland       Holland               Iceland                  Spain
Belgium                           France                 Portugal                Italy
Czech Republic              England               Hungary               Germany
Greece                             Sweden                Russia                    Austria

The Republic of Ireland as the host nation were placed in position 1 of Group A and will play two of their matches in Tallaght Stadium with the RSC in Waterford hosting their other group contest.

The competition is set to commence on Friday the 3rd May with the group stage set for completion on Friday the 10th May. The knockout quarter-finals are set for the 12th/13th May, the semi-finals on the 16th May, with the final set for Tallaght Stadium on Sunday the 19th May.

The top five sides will qualify for the FIFA U17 World Cup in Brazil later this year.

The various matches will take place at the seven nominated venues:- Dublin [Tallaght Stadium, Tolka Park, UCD Bowl, Whitehall Stadium]. Longford [City Calling Stadium]. Waterford [Regional Sports Centre]. Wicklow [Carlisle Grounds, Bray].

The draw was made by the tournament ambassador John O’Shea, capped 118 times at senior level and a member of our side which, under the guidance of Brian Kerr and the late Noel O’Reilly, won the tournament in 1998.

 

 

Under 15 Internationals
Our Under 15 side guided by Head Coach Jason Donohue suffered a very disappointing five one defeat when they faced the Czech Republic this Thursday morning in Stadium Dobrany in their second friendly international encounter of this week. The hosts led by three goals to nil at the break and added two more in the second period with  Michael Leddy‘s second half goal merely a consolation effort.

The two sides faced each other in the opening contest on Tuesday afternoon in the Stadium Prestice with Ireland emerging victorious courtesy of a 60th minute goal from Shamrock Rovers striker Michael Leddy, a half-time substitute.

Squad
Goalkeepers: Aaron Maguire(Tottenham Hotspur), Jack Ross(Bray Wanderers)
Defenders: Ben Curtis(Shamrock Rovers), Tommy Fogarty(Birmingham City), Sean Grehan(Bohemian), Aaron O’Reilly(St Patrick’s Athletic), Darragh Reilly(Sligo Rovers), John Ryan(Shamrock Rovers)
Midfielders: Zayd Abada(Shamrock Rovers), Conor Barrett(Birmingham City), Sean Fitzpatrick(Wexford), Cian Kelly(Bohemian), Luke McGlynn(Finn Harps), Jamie Mullins(Bohemian), Glory Nzingo(St Patrick’s Athletic)
Forwards: Evan Ferguson(Bohemian), Michael Leddy(Shamrock Rovers), Ben Quinn(St Patrick’s Athletic)

Our Under 19 Women, guided by Head Coach Dave Connell, commenced their 2019 European Championship Elite Stage challenge with a four nil victory over Hungary in Campo Municipal de A Lomba, Spain early  on Wednesday afternoon. Ireland started slowly but a fine run from Bristol City striker Heather Payne on thirty minutes was brought to an abrupt end in the box and Payne herself calmly converted the spot kick. Ireland extended their lead six minutes later through an own goal and a second goal from Payne on sixty eight minutes enabled us to cruise to victory, with Kilkenny United striker Carla McManus adding the fourth goal on ninety minutes.

The other two Group Four contestants, Serbia and mini-tournament hosts Spain meet later in the afternoon at 5.30pm.

With only the Group winner progressing to the Championship Finals, Ireland will face Serbia in their second contest on Saturday the 6th April with European Champions Spain the opponents in the concluding Group fixture on Tuesday the 9th April 2019.

Team: R Kelly; R Baynes, S Doyle, R McGovern, L Lobato; M Mackey(C), T Ruddy, N Reynolds; H Payne, A McEvoy, M O’Driscoll
Substitutes:
Kelly Brady for O’Driscoll 55′
A Slattery for Baynes 65′
C McManus for Ruddy 80′
C Singleton for McEvoy 80′

Squad:
Goalkeepers: Rachael Kelly(Shelbourne WFC), Erica Turner(DLR Waves)
Defenders: Rachel Baynes(Galway WFC), Leah Brady(Galway WFC), Katie Burdis(DLR Waves), Sadhbh Doyle(Galway WFC), Roisin McGovern(DLR Waves), Aoife Slattery(Wexford WFC)
Midfielders: Sinead Donavan(Galway WFC), Lucia Lobato(Galway WFC), Megan Mackey(Brighton & Hove Albion), Tiegan Ruddy(Shelbourne WFC), Chloe Singleton(Galway WFC)
Forwards:  Kelly Brady(World Class-USA), Keelin McEntee(DLR Waves), Alannah McEvoy(Shelbourne WFC), Carla McManus(Kilkenny United), Michelle O’Driscoll(Daytona State University-USA), Heather Payne(Bristol City), Niamh Reynolds(Reading WFC)

There was some Irish involvement in Wednesday evening’s English football schedule.

Far from safe Brighton & Hove Albion went down to a three nil defeat at Chelsea in the Premier League with Shane Duffy in his customary defensive role while Greg Cunningham was on the substitute bench for Cardiff City who, still smarting from the injustices of the weekend, went down to a two nil defeat at title chasing Manchester City.  Chris Hughton’s ‘Seagulls’ had the added distraction of Saturday afternoon’s FA Cup semi-final engagement with player rich Manchester City.

League One Sunderland, following the disappointment of their EFL Trophy Final defeat by Portsmouth at Wembley Stadium on Sunday last, secured a three nil victory at Accrington Stanley in a contest crucial to their hopes of promotion to the Championship. Aiden McGeady, who scored twice in the Wembley defeat, opened the scoring after just four minutes and was withdrawn at half time. Burnley loanee Jimmy Dunne was again named on the ‘Makems’ substitute bench.

There were a number of Irish footballers in action this Tuesday evening across three divisions in the English football pyramid.

Cyrus Christie started for Fulham in their four one defeat at Watford which spelt relegation from the Premier League for the ‘Cottagers’ while Matt Doherty and Wolverhampton Wanderers repeated their FA Cup quarter-final success with another two one victory over Manchester United at Molineaux. The results should provide a confidence boost for both Watford and Wolves who face each other in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium next Sunday. 

Goalkeeper Darren Randolph and his Middlesbrough colleagues suffered a blow to their Championship play-off hopes as they lost to the only goal from visitors Bristol City who themselves moved into a play-off position. Callum O’Dowda continues to be unavailable through injury.

The League Two contest between promotion chasing Bury and struggling Cambridge United had some Irish involvement. Aston Villa loanee Jake Doyle-Hayes, a member of Stephen Kenny‘s Ireland U21 squad, started for Cambridge United while veteran goalkeeper David Forde and defender Jake Carroll were on the substitute bench as their side stunned their hosts with a three nil victory which is likely to go a long way to ensuring their League Two survival.  Bury included goalkeeper Joe Murphy and midfielder Jay O’Shea in their starting eleven with Eoghan O’Connell introduced from the substitute bench after thirty three minutes.  

Under 15 Internationals
Head Coach Jason Donohue and his squad of eighteen Republic of Ireland players have travelled to the Czech Republic this week where they will take on their hosts in two U15 international contests.

The two sides faced each other in the opening contest this Tuesday afternoon in the Stadium Prestice with Ireland emerging victorious courtesy of a 60th minute goal from Shamrock Rovers striker Michael Leddy, a half-time substitute.

The two sides will meet again on Thursday morning at 11.00(10.00hrs Irish time)in Stadium Dobrany.

Team: A Maguire; T Fogarty, D Reilly, S Grehan, J Ryan; G Nzingo, J Mullins(C), C Kelly; E Ferguson, B Quinn, L McGlynn
Substitutes:
M Leddy for Quinn 41′
Z Abada fir McGlynn 59′
S Fitzpatrick for Mullins 59′
C Barrett for Nzingo 73′

Squad
Goalkeepers: Aaron Maguire(Tottenham Hotspur), Jack Ross(Bray Wanderers)
Defenders: Ben Curtis(Shamrock Rovers), Tommy Fogarty(Birmingham City), Sean Grehan(Bohemian), Aaron O’Reilly(St Patrick’s Athletic), Darragh Reilly(Sligo Rovers), John Ryan(Shamrock Rovers)
Midfielders: Zayd Abada(Shamrock Rovers), Conor Barrett(Birmingham City), Sean Fitzpatrick(Wexford), Cian Kelly(Bohemian), Luke McGlynn(Finn Harps), Jamie Mullins(Bohemian), Glory Nzingo(St Patrick’s Athletic)
Forwards: Evan Ferguson(Bohemian), Michael Leddy(Shamrock Rovers), Ben Quinn(St Patrick’s Athletic)

Tuesday
The two remaining EA Sports Cup second round ties were completed on Tuesday evening. The Brandywell witnessed Derry City defeat First Division Longford Town by three goals to nil while at the same time Shelbourne went down to a two one defeat by UCD in Tolka Park.

Monday
There were six ties completed this Monday evening in the second round of the 2019 EA Sports Cup. First into action were Waterford and Galway United who faced each other in the RSC with the hosts prevailing by two goals to one. The same score line prevailed in Dalymount Park where Bohemian overcame Cabinteely of the First Division. The contest between Bray Wanderers and Shamrock Rovers remained scoreless after extra-time with the hosts winning the penalty shoot-out by four goals to two in the Carlisle Grounds. Cork City defeated Cobh Ramblers by four goals to one in Turner’s Cross while St Patrick’s Athletic went down to a two one defeat by visitors Dundalk in Richmond Park. Last into action were the North West duo of Finn Harps and Sligo Rovers who faced off in Finn Park, where the scores were one each at the end of ninety minutes. The hosts scored  the only goal in extra-time to go through to the quarter-final.