2-1 Byrne again. Iceland pulled one back 7 mins later
http://www.uefa.com/under19/season=2...&match=2013437
Printable View
2-1 Byrne again. Iceland pulled one back 7 mins later
http://www.uefa.com/under19/season=2...&match=2013437
Iceland qualified ahead of France last time out so that's a good result, while Serbia and Turkey drew.
The senior management team were in Tallaght watching according to Newstalk.
In my near 40 years watching Ireland I've never been so encouraged and optimistic about the future :)
A win over the freewheeling, swashbuckling Icelanders is always worth celebrating :)
It certainly is one of the shock results of the year.
It took a lot of grit for those Irish boys to hang on to the end ........getting use to life in an Irish shirt.
It's worth noting that the last time an Irish team beat an Icelandic team 2-1 was in 1986. It heralded the most glorious chapter in Irish football history.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Good times are ahead, lads.
not long back from Tallaght stadium
Both teams were fairly evenly matched in the first half, Ireland had slightly more possession, Iceland had slightly better chances. Sam Byrne up front looked disinterested without the ball at his feet, while O'Hanlon buzzed around behind him with Browne and Mulroney solid in central midfield. Moseley again impressed at left full, the second time I've seen him play there in recent weeks and looks a solid full back.
Early in the second half, Byrne opened the scoring with a close range header. The goal seemed to wake the (former?) Manchester United player and he worked a lot following this and was rewarded with a second goal following a scramble in the penalty area from a corner from O'Hanlon. One first touch to kill a long ball right to his feet brought applause from the crowd, that included Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane.
Iceland's goal came from a quick movement after a free kick was played to the left winger, who looped the ball over goalkeeper Eric Grimes, and off the far post. The Icelandic keeper had a terrible habit of coming far out of his area with his team in possession, and twice in the latter stages this almost cost his team another goal, with long shots from O'Hanlon and Byrne not finding the target.
Didn't hear if a MOTM was announced, but Browne or Mulroney would have gotten it over 90 minutes, Byrne if the award was only dependent on the last 30 minutes, or O'Hanlon for the first 70 as he tired in the final minutes and should have been substituted earlier than he was.
Hard to call how things will go against Turkey on Friday, a draw would be a good result setting it up for the final game on Monday against Serbia.
Have to mention the price too - €2 for adults, kids free in - led to the biggest crowd I've seen at Tallaght stadium for an underage game in a while
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought Iceland was one of the countries leading the way in terms of their underage structure and successes (for their size). In other words this win is a very impressive result.Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
Isn't that what Charlie and me are saying?
Celebrate good times, come on!
I may have had tongue tentatively in cheek with that remark :)
I'm annoyed I wasn't able to make the match now, would have liked to see the freewheeling Icelanders in full one-touch mode.
Indo is saying Byrne had several scouts watching last night and that Celtic are interested. Some bloke called Keane is now evens favourite to be Celtics next manager too.
If we qualify it will be a terrific achievement, especially when you consider that Grealish, Jack Byrne and Ian Lawlor would all be eligible to play in these games.
Fingers crossed Byrne gets a good club. There's no shame in being let go by United. Just ask Gilesy:)
Lawlor's overage, from the regulations - http://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/...8_DOWNLOAD.pdf (PDF dowload)
His birthday is the 27 October 1994Quote:
17.02 Players are eligible to play in the competition if they were born on or after 1 January 1995. The national associations are responsible for the strict observation of this provision
Is the Serbia match live anywhere, Eurosport?
Added to the full squad.Quote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
None of the qualifiers are ever on TV. This won't be any differentQuote:
Originally Posted by pateen
Damned with faint praise.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lwwa-jMFbEk#t=148
Byrne is a big lad alright, must run in the family.
Noe Baba suspended for tonight's game, likely to be replaced by Ryan Robinson or Sean Long:
http://www.fai.ie/international/unde...ite-phase.html
So, who's hitting the Carlisle Grounds for Serbia Iceland?
Hopefully not the usual hooligan firm that plague that stadium.
5-0 now. We softened them up lads.
That's not too encouraging really. Looks pretty clear that we'll need four points from our two games to qualify.
Updates anywhere?
FAI are posting live updates on their twitter account: http://twitter.com/FAIreland
1-0 down at the moment.
Alex O'Hanlon didn't start (he's just come on) which I can't understand, unless he's absolutely exhausted after Wednesdays night's game
Is Dogan Erdogan the Turkish equivalent of Brian O'Brien?
It's 2-1 for Turkey now:(
... not very promising!Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
Finished 1-2.
Result 1-2. According to the text commentary we had a good chance at 1-1 as well.
Just back, really disappointing. Fought their way back into the game and deserved to be at least level but then switched off and gave away a pathetically easy goal from a corner. We had them on the ropes at 1-1 and managed to butcher a 3-on-1 counter attack that should have made it 2-1. Turkey are no great shakes but we are very suspect defensively. We're now relying on the total football of Iceland to do us a favour against Turkey and then we beat Serbia, which is very unlikely on today's evidence. On the plus side, Alan Browne is a serious player, Sam Byrne looks very good and the Shelbourne pair Ryan Robinson and Dylan Connolly have a lot about them. The first Turkey goal was a complete dive too.
Thanks for the report Charlie. Nowhere else to get an insight into the game other than from the likes of yourself. Cheers.Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
Suppose we should be satisfied that we had a chance of winning the game but in reality it goes down as another sloppy performance from an Irish international team, the flag bearers (senior team) of which produce nothing but sloppy performances lately. Just saw England beat Peru on the TV and even they seem to be turning the corner in terms of playing proper football - still think they'll be a million miles away from Brazil when the Cup is handed out. Wonder how our senior lads will fare out tomorrow night against Italy. Will it be hoof ball central again. All in all not a wonderful time for Irish football.
Unfortunately Iceland just sent their B team to Ireland, it's a bit of an ask to beat Turkey with a population 240 times greater, to chose their best 11 from.Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
That would be the equivalent of Ireland beating the rest of the world, but you never know, natural ability goes a long way to bridge impossible gaps.
Oh dear. Arguing by population size is poor schtick. Poor, poor schtick.
Was at the game. Very frustrating. Similar to watching the senior team, really. First half was dull enough. We seemed to be stronger physically than the Turks and I was impressed by our ability to win the ball in 50/50 situations but unfortunately we rarely did anything with it. Dylan Connolly has serious pace and gave his man a torrid time but never delivered a decent cross, though we never poured into the box in numbers so he had little to aim for (usually Byrne surrounded by 3 Turks). Turkey, when they got the ball were a lot more comfortable than us on it, and when they got forward showed they could pose a threat. Although I was impressed with Alan Browne, I don't think our midfield ever really got a stronghold on the game and the Turks always seemed to be able to exploit the space in front of our back four.
That being said, we came the closest to scoring. A lofted cross that came off Sean Long's head or shoulder and hit the inside of the post.
Anyway, second half started livelier. Turkish goal was an excellent free kick that Grimes could do nothing about. Grimes made some excellent saves, it must be said, including at the feet of a Turk who was clean through on goal soon after their first (iirc). Ireland were value for the equaliser though, Connolly beating his man for pace again and drawing the foul inside the box.
A couple of minutes later, Connolly and Byrne managed to conspire to blow a golden opportunity to score a second in a 3 on 1 situation, passing the ball between themselves and allowing the Turks to get back and ultimately intercept a misplaced, pathetic effort at a pass as the move fizzled out. Byrne also had a glorious chance but a last ditch block by a Turk sent the ball over the bar from close range.
Turkey soon were down our end and Grimes pushed a 20 yard strike around the post, again our defence allowing a Turk to run at them and get a shot away too handily. Grimes took out his frustration on one of the centre-halves who gave him a shove in return. If this was a show of passion it was of no benefit as everyone went to sleep when the corner came in and it was an easy nod home for 1-2. Sadly, Turkey probably looked the more dangerous after that, as Ireland's heads dropped slightly and Turkey started to keep the ball and run down the clock, their technically superior players playing with confidence. I was impressed by Mustafa Altintas, one of their subs, who plays for Bursaspor. Of our subs, Crowe didn't really do anything different to Mulroney who he replaced, and O'Hanlon certainly has the swagger of someone who plays for Liverpool but struggled to make much of an impact.
We could've won, but ultimately, I think the better team won.
I need to sleep now.
highlights from the Turkey game on Friday night
Nothing the keeper could have done about the opening free kick. Marking for the second goal was atrocious. That three-on-one situation Yard of Pace described above really should have resulted in a goal, but indecision cost them the opportunity.