Belgium U16 (B)....3-4 Republic Ireland (A) U16

 

A comeback of epic proportions sealed victory for the Republic of Ireland Under-16s away to Belgium on Tuesday evening in Maasmechelen.

 

Sloppy play by the Irish in the first half contributed to Belgium racing into a three-goal lead but the Irish scored four times after the break, with Kealan Dillon's winner during injury time giving the visitors the win.

 

John Morling brought a squad of 36 players on the end of the season trip and the first of today's pair of matches saw the Irish ‘A' squad face the home nation's ‘B' panel.

 

And an under-par opening 40 minutes by Ireland allowed their opponents chalk up what looked like an unassailable lead until they regained their composure in the second half and finished the much stronger side.

 

Just two minutes had elapsed when Belgium forged ahead and they extended their advantage on 15 minutes with Ireland goalkeeper Joe Coll helpless to prevent a second goal hitting the back of his net.

 

Striker James Murphy flashed a shot wide in Ireland's closest opening of the first half but they entered the break further behind as the hosts plundered a third on the stroke of the half-time whistle.

 

Ireland got back to basics for the second half, looking a completely different outfit and not allowing their hosts the space to cause more damage.

 

A minute after the restart, Jamie Smith headed over as Ireland sought a goal and their salvage mission received a stimulus two minutes later when substitute Philip Roberts followed up a rebound from Kenny McEvoy's shot to convert.

 

The Norwich City striker almost had a second shortly after only to blaze over but they did reduce the arrears to the minimum on 58 minutes when top scorer Michael Drennan stroked home a penalty after Carel Tiofack was floored in the box.

 

It was one-way traffic at that point but the equaliser looked to be agonisingly eluding them as Brandon Miele and Roberts missed decent chances.

 

But centre-back Joe O'Brien supplied the leveller with three minutes remaining, planting a header beyond the goalkeeper from Kealan Dillon's corner.

 

The late drama continued into stoppage time when Dillon conjured a splendid moment to embark on a mazy run and beat the goalkeeper with a shot from 20 yards for the winning strike.

 

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND U16: Joe Coll (Glenea United); Eoin Hyland (Belvedere), Jamie Smith (Cherry Orchard), Joe O'Brien (Salthill Devon), Shane Griffin (Carrigaline United); Ken McEvoy (Villa FC), Sami AdeOsobe (Glenmuir United), Luke Gallagher (Cherry Orchard), Michael Drennan (Evergreen); Kealan Dillon (Belvedere), James Murphy (Reading).
Substitutions: Colm Horgan (Salthill Devon) for Hyland (38 mins), Carel TioFack (Ballincollig) for AdeOsobe, Philip Roberts (Norwich City) for Murphy (both h/t), Brandon Miele (Cherry Orchard) for McEvoy (43 mins).

 

Belgium U16 (A)....1-0 Republic Ireland (B) U16

 

A new-look Ireland Under-16 B squad performed well on Tuesday afternoon but not enough to avoid losing narrowly to Belgium's A side.

 

Hesitancy in the Irish defence played a part in the only goal of the match as a mix-up between goalkeeper Ian Lawlor and Pierce Sweeney was punished with a neat finish.

 

Ireland had to be alert to counteract the flow of attacks from a Belgium side that had drawn their last game against England and lost narrowly to France.

 

That they did in the final stage to keep their task in the second half to the minimum.

 

Adam Evans was presented with Ireland's nearest opening to find an equaliser but the Belgium goalkeeper advanced quickly to thwart the effort after the Belvedere youngster broke free on goal.

 

Ireland coach Darren Murray said: I was delighted with the work-rate and defensive discipline shown in our performance and we restricted them to very few chances.

"This was always going to be a test for our lads and they dealt with the threat of Belgium extremely well.

"We could have added more penetration to our game in attack but we went for it in the second half looking for that equaliser."

 

REP OF IRELAND U16: Ian Lawlor (Home Farm); Sean Kavanagh (Belvedere), Pierce Sweeney (Belvedere), Darragh Murphy (Innishvilla), John Kavanagh (Ringmahon Rangers): John McKeown (Belvedere), Shane McGinty (Kildrum Tigers), Darren O'Donoghue (St.
Francis); Emmet Cotter (Midleton), Jack Nardiello (Leicester City), Adam Evans (Belvedere).
Substitutions: Conor Pepper (Portmarnock) for McGinty, Brian Lenihan (College Corinthians) for O'Donoghue (both h/t), Mark Timlin (Buncrana Hearts) for Nardiello (55 mins), David Graydon (Cherry Orchard) for McKeown, Glen Daly (Malahide United) for Sean Kavanagh (both 70 mins).

 

Under-16 Friendly Internationals:
Tuesday, April 27
Belgium A 3-4 Republic of Ireland b
Maasmechelen - 6.00pm [local time]

Belgium A 1-0 Republic of Ireland B
Maasmechelen - 8.00pm [local time]

 

Thursday, April 29
Belgium A v Republic of Ireland A
Tongeren 11.00am [local time]

Belgium B v Republic of Ireland B
Tongeren 1.00pm [local time].

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