Our U17 side suffered bitter disappointment as they exited the UEFA U17 Championship finals following a one all draw with top seeds Belgium in their concluding Group A contest in Tallaght Stadium this Thursday evening.
While there was a sequence of events from which a draw would have permitted passage to the knock-out quarter final stage, the reality was that this was a must win match. The result in the other group contest between the Czech Republic and Greece went as expected the way of the Czech Republic.
With suspension ruling out Conor Carty and Festy Ebosele, Ireland were further disrupted by the injury withdrawal of goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu.
The excellent Belgian side dominated the large part of the match and did merit their progress. They took a deserved lead on sixty five minutes but this Ireland side did not fold and fought back to equalise through Timi Sobowale nine minutes later. They fought earnestly for the winner but Belgium had just that little bit of extra quality which they were unable to overcome.
P W D L F A G/D Pts
Belgium 3 1 2 0 5 2 3 5
Czech Republic 3 1 2 0 4 2 2 5
Republic of Ireland 3 0 3 0 3 3 – 3
Greece 3 0 1 2 1 6 -5 1
The two remaining contests in Group B took place this Thursday afternoon. Holland, who had already qualified for the quarter-final stage, went down to a two nil defeat by France in the UCD Bowl which saw the French top the Group and qualify for the quarter-finals. Sweden went down to a three one defeat by England at Home Farm FC in Whitehall with both now exiting the competition.
P W D L F A G/D Pts
France(Q) 3 2 1 0 7 3 4 7
Holland(Q) 3 2 0 1 7 4 3 6
England 3 1 1 1 6 7 -1 4
Sweden 3 0 0 3 3 9 -6 0