Irish U-17s in action this week

Won first game in an invitational friendly tournament in Hungary, 2-0 against Serbia & Montenegro. They play Poland later today & have another game on Saturday.

From FAI website:


One new international in Ireland’s Under-17 squad, striker Sean Scannell of Crystal Palace, celebrated his elevation with both the team’s goals in the victory over Serbia & Montenegro during the first game of the Hungary Invitational tournament in Kalocsa.

It was a first appearance in the Irish shirt for the London native and he will be aiming to continue his strong start this evening (Thursday) when the Republic meet Poland in the second of their three games this week (kick-off 4.30 pm, Irish time).

The Palace striker first appeared on the radar of Irish manager Sean McCaffrey during the International trials held in Dublin over the Summer and the youngster admits to being flattered when he was selected in the squad for Hungary.

“My grand-parents are from Castleblaney in County Monaghan,” said Scannell. “I was thrilled when I got called up for these games because I really liked the style of play in the Irish set-up and knew I had something to offer if I could get a chance.”

Scannell struck two second-half goals on his debut to see off Ireland’s bogey team at this level, Serbia & Montenegro, and he feels his approach to playing football is beginning to pay off.

“I came into the Irish squad at the weekend with a good attitude, wanting to impress Sean (McCaffrey) and the coaching staff. I love playing football but at the moment, I’m still combining school with my coaching at Crystal Palace. Next season, I’ll be in full-time training and that can only benefit my development.”

Manager Sean McCaffrey applauded Scannell’s effort in the game last night: “He deserved his goals for the work he put in during the match. His first goal was a brilliant finish from outside the box and the second was a real poacher’s goal from close range.”

The manager sends his young team out to do battle again this evening with a simple but effective message: “The players managed to retain possession very well against Serbia and that’s vital in International football. We want to keep doing that and doing it well because if gives us a great chance. We’re here to prepare for the UEFA qualifiers next month and a couple more displays like that will satisfy me.”

Team and match report to follow later

IRELAND: Kieron Thorp (Charlton Athletic), Gareth Matthews (Cherry Orchard), David Joyce (Birmingham City) - captain, Paul Honohan (Wilton), Adrian Moyles (QPR), Dean Marshall (Shelbourne), James O’Brien (Birmingham City), Shane O’Connor (Liverpool), Michael Collins (Liverpool), Sean Scannell (Crystal Palace), Joe O’Neill (Burnley).

Subs: Craig Duggan (Kilreen) for Collins - 66 mins, Darragh Tuffy (Blackburn) for O’Neill - 76 mins.

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Won first game in an invitational friendly tournament in Hungary, 2-0 against Serbia & Montenegro. They play Poland later today & have another game on Saturday.

From FAI website:


One new international in Ireland’s Under-17 squad, striker Sean Scannell of Crystal Palace, celebrated his elevation with both the team’s goals in the victory over Serbia & Montenegro during the first game of the Hungary Invitational tournament in Kalocsa.

It was a first appearance in the Irish shirt for the London native and he will be aiming to continue his strong start this evening (Thursday) when the Republic meet Poland in the second of their three games this week (kick-off 4.30 pm, Irish time).

The Palace striker first appeared on the radar of Irish manager Sean McCaffrey during the International trials held in Dublin over the Summer and the youngster admits to being flattered when he was selected in the squad for Hungary.

“My grand-parents are from Castleblaney in County Monaghan,” said Scannell. “I was thrilled when I got called up for these games because I really liked the style of play in the Irish set-up and knew I had something to offer if I could get a chance.”

Scannell struck two second-half goals on his debut to see off Ireland’s bogey team at this level, Serbia & Montenegro, and he feels his approach to playing football is beginning to pay off.

“I came into the Irish squad at the weekend with a good attitude, wanting to impress Sean (McCaffrey) and the coaching staff. I love playing football but at the moment, I’m still combining school with my coaching at Crystal Palace. Next season, I’ll be in full-time training and that can only benefit my development.”

Manager Sean McCaffrey applauded Scannell’s effort in the game last night: “He deserved his goals for the work he put in during the match. His first goal was a brilliant finish from outside the box and the second was a real poacher’s goal from close range.”

The manager sends his young team out to do battle again this evening with a simple but effective message: “The players managed to retain possession very well against Serbia and that’s vital in International football. We want to keep doing that and doing it well because if gives us a great chance. We’re here to prepare for the UEFA qualifiers next month and a couple more displays like that will satisfy me.”

Team and match report to follow later

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noticed on the Crystal Palace staff page the club's electrician is also named Sean Scannell, his dad I guess.

U17 International Tournament in Hungary

Republic of Ireland 1 – 3 Poland
Shane O’Connor 27

The Republic of Ireland’s Under-17 team lost the second game of their Hungary Invitational tournament campaign on Thursday when Poland recorded a 3-1 victory over Sean McCaffrey’s team in Miske.

Manager McCaffrey made wholesale changes to the team which beat Serbia & Montenegro 2-0 on Wednesday, giving starting slots to six other squad members.

The Polish strikers gave the Irish defence trouble early in the game and they led 2-0 after 20 minutes. Republic winger Shane O’Connor pulled a goal back on 27 minutes when he latched onto a cross by Jamie Devitt and smashed the ball into the net.

Ireland were in the ascendancy at that stage and looked set to level the game up but were caught out by the Poles, who scored again to make it 3-1 at the half-time break.

Michael Collins and Craig Duggan each had chances in the first half to add to Ireland’s tally but they were unable to convert the opportunities presented to them.

The second half was played against a backdrop of stormy conditions, with thunder and lightning in the area. The scorer of Ireland’s two goals against Serbia, Sean Scannell, was introduced as a substitute at the interval and worked hard without registering the goal which Ireland needed to redeem their chances of getting a result.

Irish manager Sean McCaffrey said: “The purpose of the game was to give all the players a run-out and that was the most important aspect. As I’ve said throughout this week, I’m learning about the squad ahead of the UEFA qualifiers next month and I know a lot more now than I did last week.”

He added: “We dominated parts of the game but Poland were sharp in attack and took their goals well.”

Ireland’s final game of the tournament takes place on Saturday (August 5th), when they compete in the 3rd/4th place play-off in Szigetszentmartin (kick-off 3pm Irish time).

Ireland:
Donal Greene (Dundalk FC)
Gareth Matthews (Cherry Orchard)
Adrian Moyles (QPR)
Daragh Tuffy (Blackburn Rovers)
Ricky Byrne (Southend United)
James O'Brien (C) (Birmingham City)
Michael Collins (Liverpool)
Shane O'Connor (Liverpool)
Jamie Devitt (Hull City)
Joe Collins (Portsmouth)
Craig Duggan (Kilreen)

Subs: Sean Scannell (Crystal Palace) for Devitt & Kieron Thorp (Charlton) for Greene (Both half-time), Dean Marshall (Shelbourne) for Matthews (50 mins), Jack Lyons (Crystal Palace) for M. Collins (60 mins), Joe O’Neill (Burnley) for O’Connor (65 mins).

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND U-17 1-2 SLOVAKIA U-17
Sean Scannell 67

Ireland's U17 side lost their final match of the Hungary Invitational tournament today against Slovakia in the 3rd/4th place-play-off.


The Republic trailed 2-0 at half-time break but pulled a goal back through Sean Scannell in the second half.

It was the Crystal Palace striker’s third goal in three games for Ireland this week and the London-born youngster finished as leading scorer in the tournament.

Ireland had the chance to draw level in the game but substitute Dean Marshall saw his shot rebound off the crossbar in the closing moments of the game.

The squad were in Hungary for five days this week as part of their preparations for the first phase UEFA Under-17 qualifying series, scheduled for Azerbaijan from the 23rd - 28th of September.

Ireland will face Denmark, Latvia and the hosts Azerbaijan in the qualifiers, with the top two nations progressing into next year’s Elite phase.

The tournament was a useful exercise from the perspective of manager Sean McCaffrey in assessing his squad options before the European qualifying campaign gets underway next month.

“We’ve had three games and it gave me the opportunity of seeing the players in action against good quality opposition. I’ve learnt a lot in the past week and we can now move on towards the qualifiers in Azerbaijan.”