Having narrowly lost to England in their opening UEFA Women's Under-19 European Championship qualifier, there was a feeling that Dave Connell's were owed something from this game but the Swiss had other plans.

The top seeds in Group 5, Switzerland took the lead on 10 minutes when Auréile Csillag shot appeared to deflect off Emma Bucci on its way past goalkeeper Savanna Duffy, who was making her competitive debut.

Only four minutes later and the team in red were celebrating again as Alayah Pilgim pocketed a goal of her own after being instrumental in creation of their opener. 2-0 up with only 15 minutes on the clock.

Ireland barely had a chance to get their game going as they were pushed back and defended bravely with Shauna Brennan warding off a third goal with a pin point accurate header from her own goal line.

But a third goal did arrive soon after with Csillag adding her name to the official scoresheet on 24 minutes. That prompted Connell's team to respond and they did just that with Bucci finishing a rebound from Della Doherty's attempt on goal on 26 minutes. 

Changes at the break saw Muireann Devaney and Kerryanne Brown introduced by Ireland to give them more support in midfield and to push higher up the pitch in search of the goals they needed to get back into the game.

A superb run at a goal and shot from Peamount United’s Rebecca Watkins was just shy of landing in the net. This was more like Ireland, moving the ball forward quickly and creating goalscoring opportunities.

They pulled another goal back on 77 minutes when Ellen Molloy does what she does best by providing an outstanding finish. It felt like the comeback was on.

It was all Ireland in the late period of the game as they maintained incredible possession of the ball and limited the Swiss to few chances. But they could not find that third goal to draw level.

While they have lost two games already, Connell can be proud of the two performances against two of the top-seeded teams at this level. They have one more game, against Northern Ireland on Tuesday in Markets Field at 1pm.
 

Switzerland: Rutishauser, Touon, Muhlemann, Wyss (Sury 40), Csillag, Regazzoni, Pilgrim (Schefer 88), Bienz (Matsushita 64), Li Puma (Heeb 64), Schlup, Blochlinger.

Republic of Ireland: Duffy, Kinnevey (O’Kane 90), Brennan, Doherty, Stapleton, Slevin (Brown 46), Watkins, Molloy, McLaughlin (Lynch 72), Bucci (Devaney 46), Reynolds.

Referee: Sabina Bolic (Croatia).