Immortal Juniors Under-17      1-3      Republic of Ireland Under-17

The Republic of Ireland Under-17s were full value for their win over Immortal Juniors today (Thursday) at the Colina Verde in Portugal.

John Morling made seven changes to his starting XI from the side which defeated Louletano DC 5-2 on Tuesday.

At the end of the contest, the Irish boss was more than pleased with his side's showing and the victory which was secured by goals from Conor Wilkinson, Jack Grealish (pen) and Alan O'Sullivan.

"This week in the Algarve has been fantastic for the players and staff because we've got some important work done ahead of the Under-17 UEFA European Championship qualifiers next month in the Netherlands.

"We've had two matches against decent opposition along with a programme of training sessions over the five days so far.

"For me, the opportunity to get the players together and remind them of our system, with the qualifiers in mind, was one I knew would be of huge value."

The Republic of Ireland will have the first of their three games at the elite stage on Thursday, March 22 against Serbia. Two days later, they take on mini-group hosts and reigning European Championship, the Netherlands, before finishing against Albania on Wednesday, March 27. Only the top team from the pool progresses to the finals in May, which are to take place in Serbia.

Today, Ireland were the brisker of the two teams in the early stages and found the breakthrough goal on 23 minutes.

Conor Wilkinson, the scorer of a brace on Tuesday, manoeuvred into space on the edge of the penalty area before tucking a low shot into the bottom right corner.

The Millwall striker was denied his second shortly afterwards by the goalkeeper when clean through on goal but, on the edge of half-time, he was fouled in the box. Jack Grealish from Aston Villa stepped up to convert the resultant penalty.

Two goals up at the interval, Ireland's search for a third gained currency two minutes in when Kevin O'Connor's threaded pass enabled Alan O'Sullivan to latch onto the ball and finish with a crisp drive.

Immortal Juniors collected a consolation goal from the penalty spot on the hour after Ryan O'Reilly was adjudged to have committed a foul.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: S. Morris (St. Kevin's Boys); S. Long (Cherry Orchard), B. Lewis (Aston Villa), R. McConnell (Letterkenny Rovers), R. O'Reilly (Stoke City); K. O'Connor (St. Patrick's Athletic), J. Daly (QPR), D. Murphy (Cork City); A. O'Sullivan (Home Farm), C. Wilkinson (Millwall), J. Grealish (Aston Villa).

Substitutions: S. Coyne (Cherry Orchard) for Grealish (h/t), T. Mulroney (Crumlin United) for Murphy, K. McFadden (Norwich City) for McConnell (both 60), S. Byrne (Manchester United) for Daly (70), S. McCarthy (Skibbereen) for O'Sullivan, J. Leddy (Ipswich Town) for O'Connor (both 75).

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