Republic of Ireland Under-15 Head Coach Niall Harrison paid tribue to the character shown by his players to eke out a late equaliser in the 3-3 draw against the Aspire Academy of Qatar.

 

Twice ahead in Doha, all their good work looked to have come unstuck when Aspire took a 3-2 lead with ten minutes left. Then, inside the last minute, Muhamed Bukhatwa got Ireland back on terms with a header.

 

"Our lads showed great character to score that equaliser with the last kick of the game but it would have been an injustice if we'd lost," admitted Harrison at the end of his first game in charge.

 

"I think anxiety crept into our game which was punished by some of Aspire's goals and that was the most disappointing part.

 

"However, our attacking play was excellent and there were lots of good individual performances. I know there's much more improvement in the team too."

 

He added: "The important aspect on Tuesday was that we got everyone on the pitch during the game except our substitute goalkeeper and he'll play the full game in the second match against Aspire on Thursday.

 

 

"All of the other substitutes will start on Thursday, with all 18 players getting plenty of game-time over the two matches."

 

 

Ireland will play their second and final game against Aspire on Thursday at 4pm local time (1pm Irish time). 

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