News

Our Republic of Ireland U15 Head Coach Jason Donohue selected a 20 player squad for a UEFA Quadrangular Development Tournament hosted by Ireland in Mayo this week. We are joined in the tournament by the Faroe Islands, Latvia and Luxembourg with matches taking place in Ballina, Castlebar and Westport.

Ireland commenced their challenge on Thursday afternoon with a three one victory over Latvia in Solar 21 Park, Castlebar. Ireland were the dominated side throughout the first half but were unable to translate their superiority into goals. The goal drought position was remedied in the second half with Belvedere forward Adam Murphy firing home on 49 minutes. Murphy was replaced four minutes later by Westport lad Adam Nugent and he certainly made an impact, scoring twice in the next ten minutes. The visitors did score a goal twelve minutes before the end but Ireland were always in command.

RISSC (London) member James McManus was introduced from the substitute bench on 70 minutes and is expected to see more match time in the next two fixtures.

Our second engagement took place in Westport on Saturday afternoon when we secured a comfortable four nil victory over the Faroe Islands. Local lad Adam Nugent opened the scoring in the first half and second half goals from Sam Curtis, an O.G. and the fourth, two minutes before the end, from another local lad and captain Daniel Kelly set the seal on victory. Our own James McManus started in midfield this afternoon.

Our final group contest is set for Ballina at 11am on Monday morning when Luxembourg will provide the opposition.

Team v Faroe Islands 19.10.2019
Conor Walsh; Trisden Wholey-Hughes, Daniel Kelly(C), Cathal Heffernan, Joe O’Brien-Whitmarsh; Eanna Fitzgerald, Cian Barrett, James McManus; Murray, Adam Nugent, Mark Tansey

Substitutes:
Sam Curtis for Heffernan 41′
Finn Cowper-Gray for O’Brien-Whitmarsh 41′
Kevin Zefi for Tansey 56′
Giddeon Tetteh for Barrett 64′
Adam Murphy for Murray 64′
Caden McLoughlin for Nugent 64′
Justin Ferizaj for McManus 65′

Team v Latvia 17.10.2019
Shay O’Leary; Finn Cowper-Gray, Luke O’Brien, Cathal Heffernan, Sam Curtis; Justin Ferizaj, Adam Murphy, Joe O’Brien-Whitmarsh; Kevin Zefi, Caden McLoughlin, Giddeon Tetteh

Substitutes:
Mark Tansey for Tetteh 49′
Cian Barrett for O’Brien-Whitmarsh 53′
Adam Nugent for Murphy 53′
James McManus for Ferizaj 70′
Murray for McLoughlin 71′

 

October 2019 may well prove to be a seminal month in the history of Irish football. A bright beginning on a Tallaght Thursday night to a mournful conclusion six days later in Geneva could have negative repercussions for the future. Six matches, two for each of our U19, U21 and Senior sides, resulted in two draws and four defeats with not a single goal in sight.

Our U19 side went down to 1-0 and 2-0 defeats by Denmark in two friendly encounters played in Sligo. (Those Danes have really become quite a pain!). These contests were of an exploratory nature for Head Coach Tom Mohan who utilised 24 players as he prepares for the qualifying stage of the 2020 European Championships. Mohan and his teams have been excellent in recent years and one is hopeful that we will continue that trend when we travel to Austria next month where Gibraltar and Switzerland (sounds familiar) will complete qualifying Group Ten.

In their three opening contests of the qualifying stage for the 2021 European U21 Championship Finals, our team under the guidance of Stephen Kenny garnered three victories and were excellent. The scoreless draw with top seeds Italy in Tallaght last week was also a very fine performance. We are designated as fourth seeds in a very competitive Group One and our disappointing loss to hosts Iceland on Tuesday, courtesy of a penalty kick, has thrown something of a spanner in the works. The promotion of Aaron Connolly to the senior squad, coupled with the injury absence of Jonathan Afolabi and the suspension of Troy Parrott, was significant despite the inclusion of Adan Idah and Michael Obafemi, both of whom have been on Premier League duty with their respective clubs in recent weeks.  We now face two crucial November contests, first travelling to Armenia before entertaining Sweden in Tallaght Stadium. Afolabi and Parrott should be available but defender Lee O’Connor will miss the Yerevan trip as a result of his dismissal in Reykjavik.

Mick McCarthy‘s senior side remain in contention to qualify for the 2020 European Championship Finals, three matches of which are scheduled for Dublin next June. The immediate qualification option comes at the Aviva Stadium on Monday the 18th November 2019 when those pesky Danes again visit Dublin. A first victory in the last five meetings with the Danes would secure a European Championship Finals place, something of a fiscal necessity given our current financial position. Should things not go as wished, there remains a get-in clause involving another potential pair of qualifiers for those sides finishing third in their qualifying Groups.

Forget October, we may yet see November as the real seminal month for Irish football.

Ireland went down to a two nil defeat by Switzerland in Geneva this Tuesday evening, their first loss in this 2020 European Championship qualifying campaign. The result means that Ireland must win their final group match against old foes Denmark in Dublin on Monday the 18th November 2020 to earn automatic qualification for the Finals. Ireland will go into that contest without Seamus Coleman (dismissed this evening).

A prolonged period of heavy rain in the hours leading up to this evening’s contest had the match in doubt but it went ahead on a very heavy pitch which it was felt might benefit Ireland. This was certainly not the case in the first half as the hosts dominated proceedings while Ireland were quite errant and indeed poor. The hosts took a deserved lead on sixteen minutes through Seferovic who fired a sizzling shot through the legs of Shane Duffy and into the bottom corner. The pitch did not appear to impair them in any way and they had a number of other efforts just off target.

Ireland introduced Callum O’Dowda for James Collins at the half-time break and he, in conjunction with most of his colleagues, brought a new emphasis to proceedings and we began to impact the match in a much more positive vein. Despite enjoying much better quality possession we were unable to fashion any clear cut chances.

Scott Hogan replaced Aaron Connolly on 69 minutes but our impetus stalled on 75 minutes with the dismissal of captain Seamus Coleman, foolishly cautioned in the first half, for a penalty area handball offence resulting in a penalty and a second yellow card. Darren Randolph made an excellent save of the spot kick but the 10 men were always facing an uphill battle thereafter. An unfortunate own goal from Shane Duffy in the third minute of added time set the seal on the evening’s proceedings.

Save for the disappointing Coleman, the remaining players performed much better than their paltry efforts in Yerevan on Saturday, with substitutes O’Dowda and Hogan, whose hold-up play and technical nous looked quite impressive in his twenty four minutes involvement, offering a much improved impetus to the team.

Mick McCarthy made three changes to his starting eleven, from last Saturday’s draw in Georgia, with Enda Stevens, Alan Browne and Aaron Connolly replacing Matt Doherty, Conor Hourihane and Callum Robinson.

Team:
Darren Randolph; Seamus Coleman(C), Shane Duffy, John Egan, Enda Stevens; Jeff Hendrick, Glenn Whelan, Alan Browne; Aaron Connolly, James Collins, James McClean

Substitutes:
Callum O’Dowda for Collins 46′
Scott Hogan for Connolly 69′

                P  W  D  L  F  A  G/D  Pts
Ireland         7  3  3  1  6  4   2    12
Denmark         6  3  3  0 16  5  11    12
Switzerland     6  3  2  1 12  5   7    11
Georgia         7  2  2  3  7 10  -3     8
Gibraltar       6  0  0  6  2 19 -17     0

Remaining Fixtures:
Friday 15 November 2019
Denmark v Gibraltar
Switzerland v Georgia
Monday 18 November 2019
Gibraltar v Switzerland
Republic of Ireland v Denmark

Republic of Ireland U21 manager Stephen Kenny saw his young charges fall to their first 2021 European Championship Group One qualifying defeat when they went down to a one nil defeat by hosts Iceland in Reykjavik on Tuesday afternoon.

Iceland commenced their campaign with two resounding victories over Armenia and Luxembourg but suffered a crushing five nil defeat by Sweden in Helsingborg on Saturday last and were likely to be hurting and dangerous back on home territory. This was very much the case as the hosts were lively from the outset and over the course of the match had many more attacking efforts.

The only goal came on 29 minutes from the penalty spot following a foul by Lee O’Connor which earned him a yellow card. There was to be further disappointment for the Glasgow Celtic player when he received a second yellow card in the closing minutes of the contest and was dismissed.

The result is a severe setback to hopes of first time qualification for the Championship finals and Ireland must now regroup for their next contest against Armenia in Yerevan on the 14th November 2019 following by the visit of Sweden to Tallaght Stadium five days later on Tuesday the 19th November 2019. 

Ireland were of course without Aaron Connolly, promoted to the senior squad, the injured Jonathan Afolabi and the suspended Troy Parrott, while one or two seemed to be feeling the effects of last Thursday night’s bruising encounter with top seeds Italy, which ended scoreless in Tallaght Stadium.

Later this afternoon, Sweden travelled to Luxembourg and secured victory by three goals to nil.

Team; Caoimhin Kelleher; Lee O’Connor, Conor Masterson, Dara O’Shea, Kameron Ledwidge; Daniel Mandroiu, Conor Coventry, Jayson Molumby(C), Zachery Elbouzedi; Michael Obafemi, Adam Idah
Substitutes:
Gavin Kelleher  for Obafemi 75′
Aaron Drinan for Mandroiu 86’e

             P  W  D  L   F   A  Pts
Ireland      5  3  1  1   7   2   10
Iceland      4  3  0  1  10   6    9
Italy        3  2  1  0   6   0    7
Sweden       3  2  0  1   9   3    6
Armenia      4  1  0  3   3   8    3
Luxembourg   5  0  0  5   0  16    0

Squad
Goalkeepers: Gavin Bazunu(Manchester City), Caoimhin Kelleher(Liverpool)
Defenders: Nathan Collins(Stoke City), Kameron Ledwidge(Southampton), Conor Masterson(QPR), Danny McNamara(Newport County on loan from Millwall), Lee O’Connor(Glasgow Celtic), Dara O’Shea(West Bromwich Albion), Liam Scales(UCD),
Midfielders: Conor Coventry(West Ham United), Zachary Elbouzedi(Waterford), Danny Grant(Bohemian), Gavin Kilkenny(AFC Bournemouth), Jason Knight(Derby County), Daniel Mandroiu(Bohemian), Jayson Molumby(Millwall on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion), Conor Ronan(Dunajska Streda on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers), Jack Taylor(Barnet)
Forwards: Aaron Drinan(GAIS-Sweden on loan from Ipswich Town), Adam Idah(Norwich City), Michael Obafemi(Southampton), Simon Power(Ross County on loan from Norwich City)

U19 Head Coach Tom Mohan used this afternoon’s second encounter with Denmark in the Showgrounds to assess other members of his Republic of Ireland squad. Denmark again secured victory with a goal in each half on a wet and windy Monday afternoon. 

Starting Eleven: Bobby Jones; Lewis Richards, Mark McGuinness(C), Andrew Omobamidele, Ben Greenwood; Ross Tierney, Harvey Neville, Conor Grant; Festy Ebosele, George Nunn, Tom Cannon
Substitutes:
Sean Bohan for Jones 60′
Dawson Devoy for Nunn 46′
Donal Higgins for Neville 46′
Timi Sobowale for McGuinness 60′
Jamie Bowden for Ross Tierney 60′
Alex Gilbert for Cannon 71′
Armstrong Oko-Flex for Grant 71′
Barry Coffey for Omobamidele 71′ 

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Sean Bohan(Bohemian), Jimmy Corcoran(Preston North End), Bobby Jones(Wigan Athletic)
Defenders: Ronan Boyce(Derry City), Ben Greenwood(AFC Bournemouth), 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), Dawson Devoy(Bohemian), Conor Grant(Sheffield Wednesday), Donal Higgins(Galway United), Harvey Neville(Manchester United), Armstrong Oko-Flex(Glasgow Celtic), Tyreik Wright(Aston Villa)
Forwards: Tom Cannon(Everton), Ryan Cassidy(Watford), Festy Ebosele(Derby County), Alex Gilbert(West Bromwich Albion), Conor Noss(Borussia Monchengladbach), George Nunn(Chelsea), Thomas Oluwa(Shamrock Rovers), Ross Tierney(Bohemian)

Mick McCarthy expressed satisfaction with the point gained from a scoreless draw with Georgia in this Saturday afternoon’s crucial European Championship qualifier played in the Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena.

There was little to excite in a pretty poor contest with neither side showing very much invention. The hosts had the greater share of possession but their few efforts on goal were wayward and Darren Randolph did not have a single shot to save.

Ireland came closest to scoring after four minutes when John Egan‘s header from a Conor Hourihane free kick struck the post. There was a second half chance for Jeff Hendrick but be hit the side netting from an acute angle.

Central defensive duo Shane Duffy and John Egan were Ireland’s best performers while late debutant substitute Aaron Connolly looked the part and had two efforts in his 16 minute cameo appearance.

Team; Darren Randolph; Seamus Coleman(C), Shane Duffy, John Egan, Matt Doherty; Jeff Hendrick, Glenn Whelan, Conor Hourihane; Callum Robinson, James Collins, James McClean

Substitutes:
Alan Browne for Robinson 73′
Aaron Connolly for Collins 78′
Derrick Williams for Hourihane 90′ +2′

Later this afternoon, Denmark scored a late winner to defeat Switzerland in Copenhagen.

                P  W  D  L  F  A  G/D  Pts
Ireland         6  3  3  0  6  2   4    12
Denmark         6  3  3  0 16  5  11    12
Switzerland     5  2  2  1 10  5   5     8 
Georgia         6  1  2  3  4  8  -4     5
Gibraltar       5  0  0  5  0 16 -16     0  

Squad
Goalkeepers: Darren Randolph(Middlesbrough), Kieran O’Hara(Burton Albion on loan from Manchester United), Mark Travers(AFC Bournemouth)
Defenders: Seamus Coleman(Everton), Matt Doherty(Wolverhampton Wanderers), Shane Duffy(Brighton & Hove Albion), John Egan(Sheffield United), Kevin Long(Burnley), *Enda Stevens(Sheffield United), Derrick Williams(Blackburn Rovers)
Midfielders: Alan Browne(Preston North End), Jack Byrne(Shamrock Rovers), Josh Cullen(Charlton Athletic on loan from West Ham United), Jeff Hendrick(Burnley), Conor Hourihane(Aston Villa), Alan Judge(Ipswich Town), James McClean(Stoke City), Callum O’Dowda(Bristol City), Glenn Whelan(Heart of Midlothian)
Forwards: James Collins(Luton Town), Scott Hogan(Stoke City on loan from Aston Villa), Sean Maguire(Preston North End), Callum Robinson(Sheffield United), Aaron Connolly(Brighton & Hove Albion)

* Suspended for the Georgia match

There were three Airtricity League Premier Division contests played this Friday evening. Third place Bohemian defeated Champions Dundalk by two goals to one in Dalymount Park while second place Shamrock Rovers scored the only goal for victory over Finn Harps in Tallaght Stadium. The third contest saw strugglers Cork City and UCD face off in Turner’s Cross where the hosts secured a three two success.

                            P   W  D  L   F   A   G/D   Pts
Dundalk [Champions]        34  26  5  3  69  17   52    83
Shamrock Rovers            34  21  6  7  56  21   35    69
Bohemian                   34  16  8 10  45  27   18    56
Derry City                 33  13 12  8  49  30   19    51
St Patrick’s Athletic      33  13  9 11  26  30   -4    48
Sligo Rovers               34  10 12 12  36  43   -7    42
Waterford                  34  11  7 16  42  50   -8    40
Cork City                  34   8 10 16  28  46  -18    34
Finn Harps                 34   6  7 21  25  60  -35    25
UCD                        34   5  4 25  23  75  -52    19

The First Division play off promotion series continued on Friday evening with Cabinteely going through to face Drogheda United in the next stage of the promotion play-off series.

Following last week’s scoreless draw at Stradbrook, the sides played out a one all draw after extra-time in the City Calling Stadium this evening with the visitors prevailing by three goals to one in the penalty shoot-out.

Cabinteely will play host to Drogheda United on Friday evening next at Stradbrook in the first leg of the First Division play-off final with the second leg set for United Park one week later.

The winners will then face Finn Harps over two legs to determine who will compete in the Premier Division next season.