Our U21 side under the guidance of Head Coach Jim Crawford ignited their hopes of a first ever qualification for a European Championship finals with an excellent two nil victory over group leaders Sweden in Boras this afternoon. Shorn of a large number of players for a variety of reasons the management team and the available players gave an accomplished performance. Ireland opened the scoring on twelve minutes through Ross Tierney and while they had some difficult moments they maintained an excellent discipline and secured victory through substitute Tyreik Wright‘s goal on eighty nine minutes.
Earlier in the day Italy defeated Bosnia & Herzegovina by one goal to nil to supersede Sweden at the summit of the table. Ireland trail the Swedes by one point in third place with a game in hand. The first two weeks in June will decide our fate with home ties against Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro followed by our final fixture away to Italy. While topping the Group and automatic qualification for the Finals may be just too much, the possibility of second place and the qualification play-offs is entirely in our own hands.
Team: Brian Maher; Oisin McEntee, Jake O’Brien, Mark McGuinness, Joel Bagan; Conor Coventry (c), Lee O’Connor, Gavin Kilkenny; Ross Tierney, Ademipo Odubeko, Ollie O’Neill
Substitutes:
Tyreik Wright for O’Neill 64′
Joshua Kayode for Odubeko 70′
Under 21 Head Coach Jim Crawford has named a 21 man squad for the UEFA U21 European Championship qualifier against Sweden in Boras on Tuesday the 29th March at 5pm. The match will be shown live on RTE 2.
Goalkeepers: Brian Maher (Derry City), Luke McNicholas (Cliftonville on loan from Sligo Rovers), David Odumosu (St Patrick’s Athletic)
Defenders: Joel Bagan (Cardiff City), Eiran Cashin (Derby County), Andy Lyons (Shamrock rovers), Mark McGuinness (Cardiff City), Jake O’Brien (Swindon Town on loan from Crystal Palace), Lee O’Connor (Tranmere Rovers), Oisin McEntee (Greenock Morton on loan from Newcastle United), Joe Redmond (St Patrick’s Athletic)
Midfielders: Conor Coventry (MK Dons on loan from West Ham United), Dawson Devoy (Bohemian), Gavin Kilkenny (AFC Bournemouth), Will Smallbone (Southampton), Ross Tierney (Motherwell), Darragh Burns (St Patrick’s Athletic), Killian Phillips (Crystal Palace)
Forwards: Festy Ebosele (Derby county), Evan Ferguson (Brighton & Hove Albion), Joshua Kayode (Rotherham United), Mipo Odubeko (Doncaster Rovers on loan from West Ham United), Ollie O’Neill (Fulham), Colm Whelan (UCD), Tyreik Wright (Colchester United on loan from Aston Villa)