Luxembourg   0 - 2   Republic of Ireland 2
                                    Anthony Stokes 47
                                    Andy Keogh pen 63

Stephen Staunton got a first hand look at the new wave of Irish talent coming through when he watched the Republic of Ireland’s under-21s beat Luxembourg in a friendly at Mamer.

Second half goals by Anthony Stokes and Andy Keogh gave the Irish, managed by Don Givens, a win they thoroughly deserved.

This fixture was designed to help bed in the next crop of Irish youngsters for the UEFA Under-21 Championships qualifying campaign next year.

Givens handed five starting debuts at this level to Arsenal’s Joe O’Cearuill, Blackburn’s Tony Kane, Scunthorpe’s Ian Morris, John-Paul Kelly of Bohemians and Darren Stapleton, who is without a club.

After an inspired first half display by goalkeeper Jeff Oster, Luxembourg kept the Irish at bay early on.

But they were blown away once Stokes opened the scoring 69 seconds after the restart. He smashed home a volley from a left-wing cross by Conor Powell of Bohemians.

Luxembourg named three players in their side that had lined out in last month’s senior Euro 2008 qualifier against Bulgaria.

They were finished off when Keogh knocked home a penalty in the 63rd minute after he had been taken down by the goalkeeper.

Stokes had earlier hit the crossbar with a clever lob in the 57th minute.

Ireland's manager, Don Givens, said: "It wasn’t an easy task to break down the Luxembourg team who were set up with nearly all their men behind the ball. Our lads were disciplined enough to be patient and I knew that when they scored the first goal, we would win the game comfortably.”

“For a new group of players, I was very satisfied with their performance. As with any new group, especially for the younger players, they have a bit to learn but that’s natural at this stage of their career.”



Luxembourg: Oster; Kintziger, Plein, Binsgelb, Lehnen, Payal, Bigard, De Sousa, Lombarbelli, Collette, Joachim. Subs Geisbusch for Lehnen 72 mins, Muhovic for Collette 72, Kitenge for Joachim 77. Subs not used: Schinker, Raus, Braun, Zanon.

Republic of Ireland: Darren Quigley (UCD); Tony Kane (Blackburn), Joe O'Cearuill (Arsenal), Richard Keogh (Bristol City), Darren Stapleton (Unattached), Patrick Cregg (Falkirk), Ian Morris (Scunthorpe), Gary Dicker (UCD), John-Paul Kelly (Bohemians), Andrew Keogh (Scunthorpe), Anthony Stokes (Arsenal). Subs: Wilson (Portsmouth) for Dicker 46 mins, Hand ( Huddersfield) for Morris 46, Powell (Bohemians) for Stapleton 46; Randolph (Charlton) for Quigley 46; O’Halloran (Aston Villa) for R Keogh 56.

Latest News