It took an own goal from Ro-Shaun Williams to seal the tie, and a questionable VAR decision to rule out a Shrewsbury opener to make it happen.

As Ireland’s U21 Euro campaign threatens to come unstuck, Aiden Keena feels he can aid their revival in Armenia tomorrow.

Manchester City goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu will make his Ireland U21 debut in Thursday's European Championship qualifier against Armenia.

Stephen Kenny has said that he is delighted for Troy Parrott that the 17-year-old Spurs player has received his first senior Ireland call-up even though it means the U21 manager will be without his star striker for next Thursday’s Euro 2021 qualifier away to Armenia.

Parrott will become the third youngest ever Irish international on Thursday week in a friendly that will act as an audition for the decisive Euro qualifier against Denmark.

Whelan is not the only injury worry for Mick McCarthy ahead of the crucial Euro 2020 qualifier against Denmark in a fortnight's time.

On a night when two giants of the European game, and a heady mix of youngsters and world superstars, served up one of the games of the season, it was left to a 20-year-old from Cork to make the telling contribution in the penalty shoot-out.

The Corkman will remain in the Carabao Cup side despite Alisson Becker’s return to fitness meaning Adrian – who was covering for the Brazil international last month – would normally be in line.

Seamus Coleman will miss out as he serves a two-game suspension but will be invited to join up with the squad in Dublin for the final Euro 2020 qualifier.

Stephen Kenny hit out at Moldovan referee Dumitri Muntean for his role in ending Ireland’s unbeaten U21 Euro qualifying run.

This stalemate against the top seeds maintains an unbeaten start for Stephen Kenny’s side, who stay top of their group heading into Tuesday’s visit to Iceland.

“I’m feeling very well. Obviously I had a stay (in hospital) in Sweden and there is probably not a better health system you could have than in Sweden so it wasn’t the worse place to be not well in.

Stephen Kenny's under-21s have won their Euro qualifier in Sweden.

Unlike John Egan and Enda Stevens, who both made it to Croker on Sunday, Darren Randolph watched proceedings on television and, as one goalkeeper observing another, was much taken with the performance of the Dublin netminder Stephen Cluxton.

Debut U21 call-ups for Troy Parrott, Michael Obafemi and Johnathan Afolabi have reinforced the sense of a rich vein of attacking talent bubbling up in Irish football, something further underlined in Stephen Kenny’s latest squad announcement by a decision to make a distinction on paper between ‘central midfielders’ and ‘attacking midfielder

Bournemouth midfielder Gavin Kilkenny and Danny McNamara, who is currently on loan at Newport County also recieved their first call-ups.

Gardaí in Cork are investigating separate acts of random vandalism - one in which all 88 greenway spotlights were ‘irreparably’ damaged in a drill attack and the other which caused some €2,000 damage to dugouts at a soccer club which has produced a Champions League-winning goalkeeper.

Stephen Kenny saluted his Ireland U21 warriors for securing a draw against Mexico which puts them on the brink of reaching the Toulon Tournament semi-finals.

It will be the first time since 2002 that Ireland have competed in the tournament.

Republic of Ireland 3-0 Luxembourg

Mick McCarthy has named his Republic of Ireland squad for the EURO 2020 Qualifiers against Gibraltar and Georgia.

The only doubt Stephen Kenny has about Troy Parrott’s readiness for U21 action relates to the player’s current injury problems.

Two Airtricity League Premier Division games have been postponed due to international call-ups.

Also included is Aston Villa's Glenn Whelan, who was expected to have played his last game for Ireland after captaining the side in a 36-minute ceremonial cameo against Northern Ireland in November.

Troy Parrott has showed why he's among Ireland's top prospects with this UEFA Youth League goal.

Martin O’Neill has described the idea that he should have capped Declan Rice against Moldova last year – and thus secured the player’s future as an Ireland international - as “kind of crazy”.

Martin O'Neill says he is still hopeful Declan Rice will commit his international future to the Republic of Ireland, but admits some circumstances favour England.

Midfielder Glenn Whelan will lead Ireland out as captain against Northern Ireland for what will be his 85th senior appearance. The Aston Villa man will not be part of the squad for the Denmark game.

As Irish football slips further into crisis, U21 boss Noel King insists the public ought to lower their expectations when it comes to how the FAI’s international teams fare.

Walters played the full 90 minutes in last night's 4-1 defeat to Wales.

The Cork youngster penned a new contract with Liverpool last month.

Very few of us paid attention when Greg Cunningham’s transfer from Preston to Cardiff City went through in June.

Cork teenager Caoimhín Kelleher’s star continues to rise at Liverpool, with the 19-year-old impressing in the club’s 4-1 victory over Manchester Utd at the International Champions Cup in Michigan on Saturday night.

Ireland won’t be part of the summer World Cup spectacle but there remains some burning issues for the game here in the year ahead.

With an ageing squad Ireland have so far negotiated a strong path towards Russia but the man responsible for harnessing the next generation, Ruud Dokter, is confident there’s sufficient talent to fill the gaps in the next campaign.

“It is a little unusual for a rugby school to put its head above the parapet with soccer.”

As they once again failed to take their chances, Tom Mohan’s young Ireland could have no complaints as a sublime goal from Marcus Edwards saw their journey at these Uefa U17 Championships in Bulgaria emphatically ended.

Italy 2 Ireland 0: Italy taught the Republic of Ireland a harsh lesson on how to finish at the Beroe Stadium yesterday to leave Irish hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of these Uefa Under-17 Championships in Bulgaria hanging in the balance.

Ireland 0 Holland 0: It was a game they could have lost heavily; at the finish, a match they might even have won.

Tom Mohan has told his Republic of Ireland Under-17s to simply go and compete at next week’s UEFA championship finals in Bulgaria.

There was a time when Liam Miller wondered if hailing from Cork would hold him back and block his path to becoming a Republic of Ireland international.

FAI Munster Senior Cup: Carrigaline CS 0 Presentation College 1: A first-half David Dalton header was enough for Presentation Brothers College to claim the Bank of Ireland FAI Schools Dr Tony O’Neill Munster Senior Cup against Carrigaline Community School at O’Shea Park, Blarney last night.