Ireland 4-0 Hungary

Ireland made a few changes to the team, with fresh players coming into the starting line-up, and started the game brightly, having a couple of chances that would have settled any nerves that they had, but Hungary managed to clear their lines on both occasions.

As the first half wore on the Hungary team proved very hard to break down, and Ireland's attacks saw Hungary try to stop Ireland's passing game. We went in 0-0 at half time following a frustrating 45 minutes.

During the break Ireland settled down with the coaching staff telling the players to stick to the game plan, this rejuvenated the players and within one minute of the restart they went 1-0 up thanks to Mark Sinclair. After the first goal it was one way traffic, and four minutes later up popped top scorer Jason Maguire to make it 2-0.

After going 2-0 up Ireland kept the ball with passing through the phases and switching the play at will, and in the 71st minute up stepped Richard Beattie to score his first goal for Ireland.

Nine minutes later Sean Young capped off a fantastic second half with a goal, it came from a beautiful passage of play of one touch passing out from the back. Hungarian frustrations began to take hold and this saw two of their players getting red cards but Ireland managed to keep calm and not retaliate.

There was a great cheer upon the final whistle as the Irish had managed to achieve their first goal of this tournament and reach the Quarter-finals. COYBIG!!!

Assistant Coach Stuart Hayden said: “We were very happy with the performance. What we have worked on in training was transferred to the pitch and our players received some rough treatment out there and I’m proud of the way they reacted.”

Head Coach Jamie Wilson praised the players for a very professional performance and reaching the quarter-finals.