Republic of Ireland
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Gibraltar 0
Denmark 0
Montenegro
Ukraine
Northern Ireland 0
Norway 1
New Zealand 
Netherlands 1 (5) - (4) 1 Republic of Ireland
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U17 EURO: Ireland cruelly denied semi-final spot
After drawing 1-1 with Netherlands at Chesterfield Stadium, Ireland forced the game into a shoot-out (extra-time is not played in this tournament) and goalkeeper Jimmy Corcoran almost became a hero.
The Cherry Orchard schoolboy saved magnificently from Dutch captain Daishawn Redan, but he was adjudged to have come off his goalline too early and picked up a second yellow card as a result. Redan then fired the re-take past Oisin McEntee, who had to put the keeper’s jersey on.
It was a cruel way for Colin O’Brien’s squad to bow out of a tournament where they displayed incredible skill, composure and bravery over the course of four games.
Following victories over Denmark and Bosnia & Herzegovina, Ireland set up this knock-out game against the tournament favourites and they were not one bit overawed.
While the Dutch bossed the majority of possession early on, they could not find a way past a well-held defensive line. In fact, they triggered the offside trap on three occasions in the first half alone.
Ireland clawed back some territory in the second period and went close to scoring when captain Nathan Collins rose highest to meet Tyriek Wright’s corner but his header whistled over the crossbar.
The Dutch, however, always posed a threat and they tested the reactions of goalkeeper Jimmy Corcoran on 56 minutes with a long-range effort from Wouter Burger.
The deadlock was broken on 62 minutes when a perfectly delivered corner kick by Mohammed Ihattaren was complimented by a strong header from Liam Van Gelderen.
Ireland hit back just two minutes later when Parrott cooly finished off a slick attacking move that saw Barry Coffey pull the ball back to the Tottenham Hotspur youngster to equalise in style.
O’Brien’s side kept the pressure on with Oisin McEntee heading over and a stinging shot from Jason Knight, but they could not find a winner so the game had to go to a penalty shoot-out.
Dutch goalkeeper Joey Koorevaar saved from Adam Idah in the first spot-kick before Parrott, Max Murphy, Knight, and Callum Thompson converted. Then Corcoran pulled off a heroic save but referee Zbynek Proske made his decision.
Ireland can depart this tournament with their heads held high and be proud of the football they played right until the very end.
Republic of Ireland: Corcoran; Murphy, McEntee, Collins, Ledwidge; Coffey, Knight, Parrott; Wright (O’Reilly 80), Idah, Thompson.
Netherlands: Koorevaar; Q Maduro (Mamengi 80), Van Gelderen, J Maduro, Hendriks; Franken, Ihattaren, Burger; Summerville, Redan, Tavsan (Brobbey 51).
Referee: Zbynek Proske (Czech Republic).
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U17 EURO: Ireland's young guns set for Quarter Final
Ireland’s young guns secured qualification on Friday with a 2-0 win over Bosnia & Herzegovina. That result gave Colin O’Brien’s team back-to-back wins following Tuesday’s 1-0 win against Denmark.
It is the second year in succession Ireland have made the quarter final stage, with O’Brien’s side going down 1-0 to eventual Under 17 World Champions, England, at this stage in Croatia last May.
“Preparations have gone well. We’ve had two days since the last group game. The day after was very much recovery. Post game, we moved base (to St George’s Park) and that freshened everything up. We trained this morning and everyone is ready and looking forward to the game against the Dutch,” Ireland Head Coach Colin O’Brien said following the final training session before the game.
Netherlands come into the game having topped Group D with three wins from three, with O’Brien knowing his opponents come into the game in fine form.
“They are a top class outfit,” he said. “Already in the tournament they are scoring goals. They haven’t conceded and have beaten two top tier teams in Spain and Germany. They’ll be full of confidence so we’ll have to have our plan. It will be an 80 or 84 minute game and we’ll make sure we give it our very best.”
Ireland recovered from an opening game defeat to Belgium to pick up maximum points against both Denmark and Bosnia & Herzegovina with the Boys in Green coming into the game full of belief.
“We have a bit of confidence now from winning two games. I said after the first game that I didn’t feel we should have lost – we should have got a point out of it. That didn’t knock the players’ confidence, they learned from it. This group have good character and they’ve shown that by bouncing back and getting six points.
“It is knock out football now, we’re very aware of that. That will throw up a few different situations no doubt tomorrow night. But, it’s a great position to be in, already it is a fantastic achievement and we’ve got to make sure we leave everything on the pitch tomorrow night,” O’Brien added.
RTE will show the game live on RTE 2 television and online on the RTE Player. Viewers outside of the Republic of Ireland will be able to watch the game live on UEFA.com. Kick off in Chesterfield is 19:00.
UEFA Under 17 European Championship Fixtures/Results
Republic of Ireland 0-2 Belgium, Saturday 5 May, Loughborough University Stadium.
Republic of Ireland 1-0 Denmark, Tuesday 8 May, St. George's Park.
Bosnia & Herzegovina 0-2 Republic of Ireland, Friday 11 May, St. George's Park.
Quarter Final
Netherlands v Republic of Ireland, Monday 14 May, Chesterfield, 19:00
Match Statistics
- Netherlands
- Republic of Ireland