Our Republic of Ireland U21 side went down to a one nil defeat by Denmark in the third and final contest of their summer training camp in Marbella, Spain this Saturday afternoon. Head Coach Jim Crawford made a number of changes to his team selection giving players an opportunity to catch the eye. However, very few players availed of the opportunity in a lack lustre and lethargic performance. Denmark were much better in all aspects of the game and might easily have won by a significantly greater score. One feeble shot from distance was the sum total of our attacking threat.
Team:
Daniel Rose; Andy Lyons, Oisin McEntee, Mark McGuinness, Will Ferry; Conor Coventry (c), Ryan Johansson; Alex Gilbert, Conor Noss, Tyreik Wright; Joshua Kayode
Substitutes:
Festy Ebosele for Lyons 46′
Bosun Lawal for Noss 46′
Gavin Kilkenny for Wright 65′
Louie Watson for Gilbert 80′
Conor Grant for Kayode 82′
Shane Flynn for Ferry 87′
The opening 2023 European Championship Group F qualifying fixture between Luxemburg and Montenegro took place in Esch-sur-Alzette on Friday evening with the visitors securing a late two one victory after the hosts had been reduced to ten men on 54 minutes. Luxembourg will travel to face Sweden in Falkenberg on Tuesday next.
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Head Coach Jim Crawford made six changes from the starting eleven which started against Switzerland on Sunday when we faced Australia at noon this Wednesday in our second U21 friendly international. Australia selected from their Under 23 Olympic Games squad and were considerably older than the Ireland side. Once again we started rather slowly but in a first half of few chances we succeeded in containing a lively and physical Australia. Ireland took the lead on 57 minutes through an own goal which would almost certainly been converted by Joshua Kayode were it not for a desperate lunge by an Australian defender. The opposition levelled matters after 73 minutes with an excellent strike but the opportunity was afforded to the attacker by a careless piece of play by an Irish player in midfield. While the second half was largely even, Ireland did offer a greater attacking threat and this was emphasised in the 90th minute when substitute Tyreik Wright showed devastating pace down the left flank before delivering a peach of a cross which fellow substitute Ross Tierney headed powerfully to the net for the winning goal. Tierney had only joined the fray moments beforehand and the goal was his first touch. While there were some fine passages of play from Ireland, the side is still very much in the development stage and greater composure and fluidity will be required for the European Championship Qualifying campaign. We will complete this training camp with a contest against Denmark at 5pm on Saturday afternoon.
Team:
Brian Maher; Andy Lyons, Oisin McEntee, Mark McGuinness, Luca Connell; Gavin Kilkenny, Conor Noss, Conor Coventry (c), Louie Watson, Will Ferry; Jonathan Afolabi
Substitutes:
Ryan Johansson for Kilkenny 62′
Tyreik Wright for Watson 62′
Joshua Kayode for Jonathan Afolabi 75′
Alex Gilbert for Noss 75′
Ross Tierney for Connell 88′
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Jim Crawford has had to make another alteration to his U21 squad following the injury withdrawal of Bohemian midfielder Dawson Devoy, who has been replaced by fellow Bohemian player Ross Tierney.
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Our U21 side went down to a two nil defeat by Switzerland in the first of three friendly internationals being played in Marbella this week. Head Coach Jim Crawford will have learned a little bit more about this group of players from this encounter as he prepares for the commencement of the European Championship Qualifiers in September. A defensive lapse cost Ireland the opening goal on 12 minutes while for the remainder of the first half they matched their opponents. Ireland retained decent possession and passed quite accurately but save for a couple of half chances their ball retention and distribution was confined in large part to their own half. There were some fine performances with towering Arsenal centre back Mark McGuinness being quite dominant while West Ham United midfielder Conor Coventry, who captained the side, was prominent in the holding midfield role. Aston Villa winger Tyreik Wright also caught the eye down the left flank.
Team:
Brian Maher; Festy Ebosele, Oisin McEntee, Mark McGuinness, Lewis Richards; Conor Coventry (c), Ryan Johansson; Louie Watson, Conor Grant, Tyreik Wright; Joshua Kayode
Substitutes:
Conor Noss for Johansson 46′
Gavin Kilkenny for Richards 57′
Will Ferry for Grant 57′
Jonathan Afolabi for Kayode 57′
Alex Gilbert for Watson 71′
Luca Connell for Coventry 71′
Shane Flynn for Ebosele 77′
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Jim Crawford has had to make two changes to his U21 squad announced on Tuesday following the withdrawal of Ciaran Brennan (Illness) and John Joe Finn Benoa (Exams). They have been replaced by Bosun Lawal (Watford) and Anselmo Garcia McNulty (Wolfsburg)
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Head Coach Jim Crawford has named a 26 player squad for the upcoming trio of U21 friendly internationals to be played in Marbella, Spain.
Sunday 30 May Switzerland 11.00 (Live Premier Sports 1/FreeSports)
Wednesday 2 June Australia 12.00 (Live Premier Sports 1/FreeSports)
Saturday 5 June Denmark 17.00
Squad
Goalkeepers: Sam Blair (Norwich City), Brian Maher (Bray Wanderers), Dan Rose (Schalke 04)
Defenders: Ciaran Brennan (Sheffield Wednesday), Festy Ebosele Derby County), Shane Flynn (Leicester City), Andy Lyons (Bohemian), Oisin McEntee (Newcastle United), Mark McGuinness (Arsenal), Lewis Richards (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Sean Roughan (Lincoln City)
Midfielders: John Joe Finn Benoa (Getafe), Luca Connell (Glasgow Celtic), Conor Coventry (West Ham United), Dawson Devoy (Bohemian), Alex Gilbert (Brentford), Conor Grant (Rochdale), Ryan Johansson (Sevilla), Conor Noss (Borussia Monchengladbach), Louie Watson (Derby County)
Forwards: Jonathan Afolabi (Glasgow Celtic), Will Ferry (Southampton), Joshua Kayode (Rotherham United), Gavin Kilkenny (AFC Bournemouth), Colm Whelan (UCD), Tyreik Wright (Aston Villa)