Irish U-21's draw in Georgia

Irish U-21's draw in Georgia
Fri 28 Mar 2003


European U-21 Soccer championships Group 10
Georgia 1 – 1 Republic of Ireland

Noel Hunt's late goal saved a point for Ireland away to Georgia but they face an almost impossible task of making next year's European championship finals.

The Republic of Ireland under-21's needed all three points to breathe new life into what has been a poor campaign so far but found themselves a goal behind after just 19 minutes when Lado Akhalaia headed past Graham Stack.

Don Givens' side suffered more woe 13 minutes later when his side were reduced to ten men following the dismissal of Nottingham Forest's Andy Reid.

Reid received his marching orders after picking up two yellow cards – his second for taking a free kick before the referee blew his whistle.

However, substitute Hunt snatched a point with six minutes remaining after some good work from Kevin O'Connor.

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland's bid to qualify from their group looks dead and buried after suffering a 2-0 defeat away to Armenia.



www.a2zsoccer.com

Hunt rescues point - 28 March 2003


A late goal from Noel Hunt earned the Republic of Ireland Under 21s their first point of the current European Championship qualifying campaign as they drew 1-1 with Georgia in the Boris Paichadze Stadium in Tbilisi on Friday.

Despite being controversially reduced to ten men after 33 minutes when Andy Reid was sent off, Ireland battled bravely against Georgia and, were it not for some wasteful finishing, would have been well and truly beaten before
Hunt stooped to head home a Kevin O'Connor right wing cross to silence the 3,000 strong partisan crowd in attendance.

Like Ireland, Georgia were pointless going into the game, but it was evident from the first minute that this was a false position as their slick passing style on a bumpy pitch mesmerised the Ireland defence with player maker Malkhaz Asatiani regularly picking holes in the visitors defence.

But it was Ireland who started best with a Reid strike from 25 yards drifting wide after four minutes and Liam Miller almost capitialsing on a mistake by goalkeeper Zurab Mamaladze two minutes later.

But gradually Georgia began to exert their dominance on the game with the always lively Lado Akhalaia shooting just wide after 12 minutes and the same striker almost slipping through again moments later only for a well-timed tackle by Stephen Paisley to stop him.

Akhalaia was a constant source of torment for the Ireland team and he again went close on 17 minutes when he beat Stephen Brennan to a long ball before toe-poking it inches wide of Graham Stack's post.

It seemed only a matter of time before Georgia broke the deadlock and the goal duly arrived after 19 minutes. Not surprisingly it was Akhalaia who grabbed the goal though Don Givens' team will feel that the Dinamo Tbilisi striker should never have been given the opportunity.

A cross from the right wing was drifting harmlessly away for Stack to easily gather but the Beveren goalkeeper lost his bearings and inadvertently stepped outside the area gifting a free kick to Georgia. And from the resultant set piece by Teimuraz Burnadze, Akhalaia found himself unmarked on
the six-yard line to head powerfully past Stack.

The goal came from Georgia's first set-piece opportunity and minutes later they proved it was no accident with Jonathan Daly heading clear from under his own crossbar when another Burnadze free created panic in the Ireland box, while Asatiani shot inches wide from the edge of the area after a
one-two with David Siradze had created space for the Lokomotiv Tbilisi play maker to try and test Stack.

There was then controversy when Reid was sent off in controversial circumstances. Ireland won a free kick on the edge of the Georgia area with the Nottingham Forest striker earning a booking for pushing Geore Tsimakuridze. But when Reid went to take the free kick, Hungarian referee Janos Megyebiro issued a second yellow card for taking the free kick too quickly.

The Ireland bench were furious with the decision as was Reid, and when the anger died down, the free kick was retaken with Paisley heading inches wide from Sean Thornton's free kick.

With that went Ireland's best chance of the first half with Akhalaia going close again just before the break and in the second half, which Ireland defended in depth during for long periods, Georgia again looked the better side though they were restricted to just a number of chances.

Stack had Paisley to thank for saving his blushes within minutes of the restart when Akhalaia charged down the goalkeepers clearance only for his pass across the face of goal to diverted away for a corner with Mikheil Bobokhidze in close attendance.

And Bobokhidze went close once more on the hour mark when a Asatiani through ball set him free only for the striker to scoop the ball over Stack but also over the crossbar.

For the remainder of the game Ireland kept the Georgians at bay, but at the same time created nothing in attack themselves until five minutes from the end when debut winger O'Connor beat his man on the right wing before sending in an inviting cross which Hunt headed home.

Teams:
Georgia: Mamaladze; Tsimakuridze, Salukvadze, Orbeladze; Burnadze, Mantskava, Asatiani, Siradze, Kandelaki, Bobokhidze, Akhalaia.
Subs: Dekanosidze for Bobokhidze (78 mins), Samkharadze for Asatiani (82 mins)

Republic of Ireland: Stack (Beveren); Brennan (Newcastle United), Goodwin (Stockport County), Paisley (Manchester City), Tierney (Crewe Alexandra); Thornton (Sunderland), Miller (Celtic), Thompson (Nottingam Forest), Hoolahan (Shelbourne); Reid (Nottingham Forest), Daly (Stockport County).
Subs: Byrne (Sunderland) for Tierney (half time), Hunt (Dunfermline Athletic) for Hoolahan (74 mins), O'Connor (Brentford) for Thompson (82 mins)

Referee: J Megyebiro (Hungary)




www.fai.ie

Givens was well pi$$ed off with the ref apparently.