News

Republic of Ireland U21 manager Stephen Kenny named captain Jayson Molumby and centre back Conor Masterson together with senior internationals Lee O’Connor and unexpectedly Troy Parrott in his starting eleven for this Tuesday evening’s European Championship qualifying contest with Sweden in Tallaght Stadium.

Ireland started slowly while Sweden, seemingly still smarting from their three one home defeat by us in September, were quickly out of the blocks and set the early pace. Their enterprise paid dividend after 17 minutes when they went in front and indeed they might well have added to their lead while Ireland were unusually sluggish.

Stephen Kenny acted emphatically at half-time by replacing Masterson and captain Molumby, both of whom have had recent injuries and were  off the pace in the first half. Defender Liam Scales slotted in to defence while Connor Ronan became very much the midfield general sparking a compete upturn in the Irish performance.

Ireland equalised on 50 minutes through Lee O’Connor, what a week it has been for the Waterford man. Adam Idah, who was now giving the Swedish defenders a torrid time, put Ireland in fron on 64 minutes and nine mintes later Troy Parrott exuded class as he netted the third. Ireland put the icing on the cake in a superb second half performance with the fourth goal from Zach Elbouzedi on 87 minutes.

Regular central defender Dara O’Shea missed this evening’s match through suspension following his red card in Yerevan.

One major disappointment this evening was the attendance of 2,760.

Team: Gavin Bazunu; Lee O’Connor, Conor Masterson, Nathan Collins, Thomas O’Connor; Conor Coventry, Jayson Molumby(C); Jason Knight, Troy Parrott, Zach Elbouzedi; Adam Idah
Substitutes:
Connor Ronan for Molumby 46′
Liam Scales for Masterson 46′
Gavin Kilkenny for Parrott 86′
Aidan Keena for Idah 90’+2′
Jack Taylor for Knight 90’+2′

Updated Squad:

Goalkeepers: Gavin Bazunu(Manchester City), Conor Kearns(UCD), 
Defenders: Nathan Collins(Stoke City), Kameron Ledwidge(Southampton), Conor Masterson(QPR), Danny McNamara(Newport County on loan from Millwall), Lee O’Connor(Glasgow Celtic), Thomas O’Connor(Gillingham on loan from Southampton), Corey O’Keefe(Macclesfield Town on loan from Birmingham City), Dara O’Shea(West Bromwich Albion), Liam Scales(UCD), 
Midfielders: Jack Clarke(Aston Villa), Conor Coventry(West Ham United), Jason Knight(Derby County), Daniel Mandroiu(Bohemian), Jayson Molumby(Millwall on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion), Connor Ronan(DAC Dunajska Streda on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers), Jack Taylor(Barnet)
Wingers: Zackary Elbouzedi(Waterford), Danny Grant(Bohemian), Gavin Kilkenny(AFC Bournemouth), Simon Power(Ross County on loan from Norwich City) 
Forwards:  Adam Idah(Norwich City), Aidan Keena(Heart of Midlothian), Troy Parrott(Tottenham Hotspur), Anthony Scully(West Ham United).

              P  W  D  L   F   A   Pts
Ireland       7  5  1  1  12   3   16
Italy         5  4  1  0  15   0   13
Iceland       5  3  0  2  10   9    9
Sweden        4  2  0  2  10   7    6
Armenia       6  1  0  5   3  15    3
Luxembourg    5  0  0  5   0  16    0

Remaining Fixtures
26.03.2020 Ireland v Iceland
31.03.2020 Luxembourg v Ireland
13.10.2020 Italy v Ireland

Our U15 side, with Head Coach Jason Donohue at the helm, take on visitors Poland in two friendly internationals this week. Eamonn Deacy Park in Galway will host the matches on Tuesday the 19th November at 7.30pm and at noon on Thursday the 21st November.

Ireland, captained by our very own club member James McManus, won the first contest on Tuesday by two goals to one on a very chilly Galway evening. Kevin Zefi put Ireland in front on 32 minutes with a superb individual goal and defender Cathal Heffernan, son of Olympic Medal winning athlete Rob Heffernan, scored the second with a header on 50 minutes. Poland hit back immediately and reduced arrears just two minutes later but Ireland remained resolute to secure victory.

Team: Conor Walsh; Luke O’Brien, Sam Curtis, Cathal Heffernan, Finn Cowper-Gray; Justin Ferizaj, James McManus(C), Adam Murphy; Kevin Zeffi, Caden McLoughlin, Gideon Tetteh
Substitutes:
Joe O’Brien-Whitmarsh for Tetteh 52′
Alex Nolan for Ferizaj 64′
Rocco Vata for Murphy 64′
Adam Nugent for McLaughlin 64′
Cian Barrett for McManus 69′

Squad:
Goalkeepers: Shay O’Leary(Shamrock Rovers), Conor Walsh(Mayo SL)
Defenders: Finn Cowper-Gray(Klub Kildare), Sam Curtis(Shamrock Rovers), Cathal Heffernan(Cork City), Tristan Hughes(Shamrock Rovers), Daniel Kelly(Mayo SL), Luke O’Brien(Bray Wanderers)
Midfielders: Cian Barrett(Shamrock Rovers), Justin Ferizaj(Shamrock Rovers), James McManus(St Kevins Boys/Bohemian), Adam Murphy(Belvedere), Joe O’Brien-Whitmarsh(Cork City), Rocco Vata(Glasgow Celtic)
Forwards: Caden McLaughlin(Malaga CF), Alex Nolan(Cabinteely), Adam Nugent(Mayo SL), Gideon Tetteh(Shamrock Rovers), Kevin Zeffi(Shamrock Rovers)

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Head Coach Tom Mohan and his Ireland U19 team went down to a very disappointing two nil defeat by mini-tournament hosts Austria on Tuesday afternoon in their final Group Ten encounter at the qualifying stage of the 2020 European Championships.

Having lost their opening encounter against Switzerland by two goals to one, Ireland crushed the hapless minnows Gibraltar by thirteen goals to nil in their second contest but both management and players were aware that victory was essential to have any chance of progressing to the Elite Stage.

It was not to be as the hosts proved to be very capable which, coupled with poor discipline resulting in red cards for Barry Coffey (43′) and Adam O’Reilly (65′), sealed our fate.

Team:
Jimmy Corcoran; Andrew Omobamidele, Mark McGuinness, Oisin McEntee(C), Mazeed Ogungbo; Adam O’Reilly, Barry Coffey; Festy Ebosele, Conor Noss, Tyreik Wright; Ryan Cassidy
Substitutes:
Armstrong Okoflex for Cassidy 70′
Ross Tierney for Wright 81′
Timi Sobowale for Noss 82′
Lewis Richards for McEntee 90′
Alex Gilbert for Ebosele 90′

Squad
Goalkeepers: Sean Bohan(Bohemian), Jimmy Corcoran(Preston North End)
Defenders: Oisin McEntee(Newcastle United), Mark McGuinness(Arsenal), Mazeed Ogungbo(Arsenal), Andrew Omobamidele(Norwich City), Lewis Richards(Wolverhampton Wanderers), Timi Sobowale(Manchester City)
Midfielders: Jamie Bowden(Tottenham Hotspur), Barry Coffey(Glasgow Celtic), Festy Ebosele(Derby County), Conor Noss(Borussia Monchengladbach), Adam O’Reilly(Preston North End), Ross Tierney(Bohemian)
Forwards: Tom Cannon(Everton), Ryan Cassidy(Watford), Matt Everitt(Brighton & Hove Albion), Alex Gilbert(West Bromwich Albion), Armstrong Oko-Flex(Glasgow Celtic), Tyreik Wright(Aston Villa).

Ireland produced their best performance of the qualifying campaign against Denmark in Dublin this evening but it was not enough as the one all draw means we must contest and win our play-off Group next March if we are to grace the 2020 European Championship Finals.

The inclusion of Alan Browne in the starting eleven and the exclusion of Callum O’Dowda from the matchday squad were the major talking points prior to the commencement of the match.

Browne commenced on the right side of midfield and was disciplined and tidy in his first half performance. Indeed the Ireland team as a whole espoused composure, in sharp contrast to much of the earlier  campaign, with their ball retention and distribution generally quite excellent. Ireland fashioned a number of half chances, with the best falling to Conor Hourihane but his final effort was too tame and the first half finished goal less.

A calf injury forced the half time withdrawal of John Egan but his replacement Ciaran Clark slotted in seamlessly. Ireland maintained their impetus in the second period but suffered a hammer blow on 73 minutes when a lack of communication between Matt Doherty and Shane Duffy allowed Martin Braithwaite a free run on goal and he took the chance to give Denmark the lead. The error by Doherty and Duffy was their only blemish of the evening, but at this level it was always likely to prove costly.

Ireland did maintain much of their composure and discipline as they went in search of the two goals they now needed to secure automatic qualification. Their efforts brought reward in the 85th minute when Doherty powered home a header from a delicious cross by fellow full back Enda Stevens who, echoing his excellent club performances, had another fine international outing.

As the remaining minutes ticked down Ireland maintained the pressure on the Danes who were anything bit composed, but that one clear cut chance did not materialise and so we are play-off bound.

Team: Darren Randolph; Matt Doherty, Shane Duffy (C), John Egan, Enda Stevens; Alan Browne, Jeff Hendrick, Glenn Whelan, Conor Hourihane, James McClean; David McGoldrick
Substitutes:
Ciaran Clark for Egan 46′
Callum Robinson for Hourihane 67′
Sean Maguire for Whelan 81′

              P  W  D  L   F   A  G/D  Pts
Switzerland   8  5  2  1  19   6  13   17
Denmark       8  4  4  0  23   6  17   16
Ireland       8  3  4  1   7   5   2   13
Georgia       8  2  2  4   7  11  -4    8
Gibraltar     8  0  0  8   3  31 -28    0 

 

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Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy has confirmed his starting eleven for this evening’s seminal encounter with Denmark in the 2020 European Championship qualifying campaign.

Team: Darren Randolph; Matt Doherty, Shane Duffy (C), John Egan, Enda Stevens; Alan Browne, Jeff Hendrick, Glenn Whelan, Conor Hourihane, James McClean; David McGoldrick

Our U17 side, under the guidance of Head Coach Colin O’Brien, top the Group with maximum points following their four two victory over Israel in Turner’s Cross this Monday afternoon in their concluding Group Three Qualifying Round contest of the 2020 European Championship. 

Our opening victories over Andorra (6-0) and Montenegro (3-1) assured our progress to the next Elite Stage but Ireland were eager to maintain their winning form and collect maximum points and that ambition was achieved.

Oliver O’Neill, starting for the first time, gave Ireland a 17th minute lead and centre back Anselmo Garcia McNally added the second one minute before the half-time break. Second half goals from Evan Ferguson and Sinclair Armstrong added to the total while the two goals conceded made no impact on the outcome, they nevertheless will have irritated Colin O’Brien.

Andorra and Montenegro contested the other Group contest at the same time in St Colman’s Park, Cobh where Montenegro prevailed by two goals to nil.

Team:
D Rose; G O’Brien (C), O Hand, AG McNulty, T Adaramola; O Crowe, B McCormack, C Conroy; S Armstrong, E Ferguson, O O’Neill
Substitutes:
Robert Mahon for Armstrong 68′
Olabosun Lawal for Conroy 76′
Andrew Moran for McCormack 76′
Kailin Barlow for O’Neill 83′
Calum Kavanagh for Ferguson 83′

            P  W  D  L   F  A  Pts
Ireland     3  3  0  0  13  3   9
Montenegro  3  1  0  2   3  4   3
Israel      3  1  0  2   3  5   3
Andorra     3  1  0  2   1  8   3

Squad
Goalkeepers: Josh Keely(St Patrick’s Athletic), Daniel Rose(Everton)
Defenders: Tayo Adaramola(Crystal Palace), Oisin Hand(Shamrock Rovers), Leigh Kavanagh(Bray Wanderers), Anselmo Garcia McNulty(Wolfsburg), Gavin O’Brien(Bohemian), Daragh Reilly(St Patrick’s Athletic)
Midfielders: Colin Conroy(Bohemian), Kyle Conway(St Patrick’s Athletic), Oran Crowe(Cork City), Olabosun Lawal(Watford), Ben McCormack(St Patrick’s Athletic), Andrew Moran(Bray Wanderers)
Forwards: Sinclair Armstrong(Shamrock Rovers), Kailin Barlow(Sligo Rovers), Evan Ferguson(Bohemian), Calum Kavanagh(Middlesbrough), Robert Mahon(Bohemian), Oliver O’Neill(Fulham). 

Scott Hogan and Callum O’Dowda are the two players who have been excluded from the matchday squad for this evening’s crucial UEFA European Championship contest against Denmark in the Aviva Stadium.

The team will be captained for the first time by Shane Duffy.