U21 Four Nations Tournament : England 2: Ireland 0

[dcfcsteve]

Just back from the Representative tournament down in Eastbourne.

Had fun and games getting there. Managed to do 7miles in over an hour crawling my way through Streatham, South London at the very start of the journey. Then about 15 miles from Eastbourne I managed to find myself stuck behind an entire travelling circus that was en-route in the same direction. A big convoy of srtics, caravan trailers, fairground thingmys doing 20 miles an hour and causing a big old tail-back. Great.

Anyways - on to the game. I'll never complain about the wind in the Carlisle Grounds again - there should be a bye-law against having football pitches near to seas, as a serious wind blows into Eastbourne's ground in apparently every game. First half was roughly balanced - few opportunities for either team, and England possibly edged it very slightly.

Second half was a different story. From the start England began to dominate, and save a few brief spells of Irish control it was England's half. The goals came in the last part of the game (c. 70th and 80th mins at a guess), and both were headers in the box from corners. We didn't seem capable of dealing with the aerial threat form set pieces. If it hadn't been for a cracking performance by Terry Masterson in the nets, it would've been 3 or 4 nil easily.

Decent crowd of c.400 as well I'd say.

In the other game WEales beat Scotland 2:1.

Only other thing of note is that Stephen Kenny sent Darragh McGhee in place of Mark McChrstal form the city team as, in the words of some FAI fella I'd a quick chat with (Joe Duffy ??) McChyrstal "wants away". Which is true.

Next-up Scotland on Thursday and Wales on Saturday. I suspect England will win the tournament again this year.

[MariborKev]

Pat Duffy it would have been Steve

Not to mention that with our injury crisis we will need McChrystal for the next few weeks

[The Stars]

he wants away,sligo want him....could be only a matter of time.

[Mr_T]

thanks for update steve.

full report and team anywhere?

[pete]

Hard to see what the point of this tournament is anymore.

[MariborKev]

he wants away,sligo want him....could be only a matter of time.

Unfortunately you are not the only one that want him, and your rivals are bigger clubs than you.......

[dcfcsteve]

Hard to see what the point of this tournament is anymore.

That suggests that it had a point initially that has now changed/been made irrelevant.

I don't see any harm in having a league-players U21 tournament. Senior inter-league games have been made redundant over-time, given the gulf in standards that has occured between England, Scotland and Ireland. I guess this is a way of giving some similar experience/reward to U21 players in a more meaningful way.

My biggest concern is the standing of teams we face - made up of English non-league clubs in the case of Wales and England, and the non-league Highland League in the case of Scotland. Neither of the senior versions of those leagues is anywhere near as good as the EL, so it arguably lessens our standing to be competing (and losing) in such a peer group.

[Roo69]

If it hadn't been for a cracking performance by Terry Masterson in the nets, it would've been 3 or 4 nil easily.

Thats great to hear ! i was quite impressed with him in his 1st game for us against Dublin City, but was very harshley sent off.....

Good shot stopper and commands his area very well. Hopefully this will give him a lot more confidence to push for a starting place with us.

Did David Tyrrell play ?

[Rory H]

Unfortunately you are not the only one that want him, and your rivals are bigger clubs than you.......


sean connor always gets what he wants:)

[dcfcsteve]

Did David Tyrrell play ?

Sorry Roo - because I got there late, I wasn't able to make a note of the team, and my knowledge of U21 players is so rubbish that I'd only recognise the Derry players :o

I'm hoping to make the game on Saturday (though it's an early KO), and if I do I'll make note of who's playing and how.

[Raheny Red]

What was the ground like and what league were the officials?

[dcfcsteve]

What was the ground like and what league were the officials?

It was played at the home of Eastbourne Borough.

Eastbourne are in Conference South (i.e. 2 levels below English Second Division), and are a relatively new team.

With that in-mind, their stadium was very good - and an embarassment for a lot of our clubs. They had a main stand on one touchline side that would hold c. 150-200, and had decent disabled viewing facilities. It also had a proper announcers room/facility, and press seats. The opposite touch-line had shallow terracing with a roof. Behind one goal there was aterracing section with a long fully-windowed members lounge above it, offering full view of games. The 4th side, behind the other goal, was again shallow terrracing with roof. Toilets were decent, and there was a good sized bar and administrative offices/room etc.

Miles better than any First Division ground we have, and better than Premier grounds like Waterford, Bray, Pats & Sligo. Shameful really.

P.S. I do wonder if a stock blueprint for small non-league stadiums exists in England, as the ground was very, very similar to AFC Wimbledon's (i.e. the former Kingstonian's ground).

Pictures here : http://www.eastbourneboroughfc.co.uk/html/ground_pics.html

[dcfcsteve]

Ref Scottish, Assistants English, Fourth Official Welsh.

[monzo]

sean connor always gets what he wants:)

Chrissy Breen? :p

[Réiteoir]

Eastbourne are in Conference South (i.e. 2 levels below English Second Division), and are a relatively new team.


They used to be known as Langney Sports - who were formed in 1964

They renamed to Eastbourne Borough in 2000.

Worcester beat Langney something like 7-0 in the FA Cup a few years back :D

[Dyl10]

sean connor always gets what he wants:)

You'd know from experience :D :p

[The Stars]

Miles better than any First Division ground we have, and better than Premier grounds like Waterford, Bray, Pats & Sligo. Shameful really.

as opposed to the ultra modern facilties at The Brandywell?

[dcfcsteve]

as opposed to the ultra modern facilties at The Brandywell?

Is the Brandywell ultra-modern ? No.

Is it better than the Showgrounds and Priory Lane in Eastbourne ? In my opinion, yes.

One whole side of the Brandywell is way better than anything at either of those grounds. The other half of the Brandywell falls short of what's in Eastbourne - but not so far as to drag the whole stadium below theirs.

As for Sligo - apart from your new stand, you have nothing that would come close to competing with the main stand in the Brandywell, and the other half of our ground is in no way dramatically worse than whats in yours either. Hence, on balance, I think the Brandywell is a better stadium.

[sligoman]

Chrissy Breen? :pAh, he didn't want him really:). He was just doing it to wind the Harps fans up:p.

[The Stars]

As for Sligo - apart from your new stand, you have nothing that would come close to competing with the main stand in the Brandywell, and the other half of our ground is in no way dramatically worse than whats in yours either. Hence, on balance, I think the Brandywell is a better stadium.
ya yer main stand is better than ours,but would prefer ours cos it is close to the pitch.
As for the other stand,i prefer ours again,even if it is small, its better than the rest of yer stand which is falling a part.
Anyway...yer going off topic so we'll leave it there.

[Rory H]

You'd know from experience :D :p


yep..we got promoted