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Republic of Ireland U21 1-2 Iceland U21
The Republic of Ireland’s European Under-21 final tournament drought will drag on after they failed to secure the necessary victory against Iceland in today’s penultimate qualifying match at Tallaght Stadium.
Jim Crawford’s team managed to cancel a first half of the first half by Sveinn Aron Gudjohnsen with an own goal with 15 minutes remaining but, after losing Nathan Collins to a late red card, Vladimir Ingimundarson sacked the winner in the discount time.
At that stage, Ireland had gone on the attack, knowing that a draw was not enough to seal a place in next year’s final.
Six points were essential for today’s games and against Luxembourg on Wednesday to clinch one of the five spots available to the second teams in the nine groups.
“It’s very disappointing,” Crawford said afterward.
“It’s hard to lose any football game, but losing it that way in the end is a real blow.
“The boys are on the court and now it is our job to pick them up before Wednesday, to reinforce how good a group are, that there is a way here for the elders. Six of this group have already taken that step.
“You can’t blame the effort of the players. There was a lot of work, but probably at the crucial moments of the game, the decision making and the execution of passes cost us scoring opportunities.
“We were at the top and I thought we had great chances at the end of the game, but we threw a lot of attacking players so we knew we were going to be open.”
“It was unfortunate the way the second goal came about for them, but it is something the boys must learn from.”
Crawford made three changes to his starting team, defeated 2-0 by Italy, one forced at the end after goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu injured his finger in the final training session on Saturday.
Sligo Rovers’ Ed McGinty replaced between the sticks, while Liam Scales replaced Irish League representative Darragh Leahy on the left back and Anthony Scully started his first competitive game on the flank.
As Crawford pointed out, Troy Parrott’s careful recovery from an ankle injury meant he started on the bench, but he was presented at halftime with control of his fate slipping from Ireland’s grasp.
Within the first two minutes, McGinty nearly gave the visitors Game 1 by losing his balance in his area.
Just when Jón Dagur Thorsteinsson looked ready to capitalize, the keeper rallied to clear the danger.
Ireland’s first opportunity came from a rehearsed corner, however Liam Scales could only hit his own player by sneaking 12 yards.
Just as Ireland was adjusting to the game in torrid conditions, a 25-minute pass by senior team member Thorsteinsson unlocked them.
His deft pass straight from inside the Ireland half sat in the wind for Gudjohnsen, son of former Chelsea striker Eidur, to tackle McGinty’s advance from an acute angle.
The efforts from distance by Lee O’Connor and Zack Elbouzedi were the best the hosts could muster before the break and they were lucky enough to go no further. Kolbeinn Finnsson was the first to react when Ireland failed to clear, only to fire his half volley a yard wide from the far post.
Parrott’s entry, with four goals in his four appearances at this level, sparked Ireland, as evidenced by him, who slipped into a central area in the 51st minute to unleash a 25-yard shot over the crossbar.
Still, Brentford goalkeeper Patrik Gunnarsson was relatively calm, easily landing Michael Obafemi’s tame volley in the 66th minute and another long-range shot from Parrott.
Joshua Kayode and Danny Mandroiu were only on the field as substitutes when they played a role in the tie. Flipping the play from left to right, an O’Connor cross found Kayode in the box and, despite missing the ball, Ari Leifsson had to decisively deflect Gunnarsson on the wrong foot.
With Ireland chasing a winner, the contest dragged on. Collins’ expulsion two minutes from time for colliding with Thorsteinsson made Ireland even more vulnerable to a counterattack and developed within two minutes of injury time when Alfons Sampsted squared for Ingimundarson to hit the ball home for the first time since six yards.
Republic of Ireland: E McGinty (Sligo Rovers); L O’Connor (Tranmere Rovers), C Masterson (QPR), N Collins (Stoke City), L Scales (Shamrock Rovers); C Coventry (West Ham United), J Taylor (Peterborough United); A Scully (Lincoln City), C Ronan (Grasshoppers Zurich), Z Elbouzedi (Lincoln City); M Obafemi (Southampton).
Subs: T Parrott (Millwall) for Scully (46 minutes), J Kayode (Carlisle Utd) for Obafemi, D Mandroiu (Bohemians) for Ronan (both 74) D Grant (Bohemians) for Coventry, T O’Connor (Gillingham) for Elbouzedi (both 83 minutes).
Iceland: P Gunnarsson; A Sampsted, A Leifsson, R Thorkelsson, H Gunnarsson; A Hauksson, W Willumsson, AF Baldursson; K Finnson, S Gudjohnson, JD Thorsteinsson.
Substitutes: ÍB Jóhannesson for Willumsson, TJ Helgason for Baldursson (both 61 minutes), B Willumsson for Gudjohnson, V Ingimundarson for K Finnson (both 73), K Thordarson for Helgason, inj (88).
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