John Fallon: Chronicles of Ireland and England continue in Walsall
Familiar foes: Ireland U19 manager Tom Mohan will be chasing victory over England in Walsall. Picture:Inpho/Laszlo Geczo
It's the international duel that captivates Irish football like no other, with plenty on the line in the latest chapter of the rivalry against England tonight in Walsall.
The opening qualifier in the elite series of the European Championship can be decisive as the U19s remains the only level within UEFA's ladder where just the seven group winners progress to the finals to join hosts Slovakia. The margin for error is minimal.
When Ireland last qualified in 2019, England hadn’t but there’s an expectancy around the current crop managed by former Dundalk boss Ian Foster. Antonio Conte has talked up 17-year-old Dane Scarlett at Tottenham, while Liam Delap — son of former Ireland midfielder Rory — has featured in the Premier League for Manchester City.
Throw in Chelsea’s Harvey Vale as well as Tim Iroegbunam of Aston Villa and the hype is validated.
Ireland too have some gems. Tayo Adaramola made his Crystal Palace debut in the FA Cup while Udinese saw enough in fellow defender James Abankwah to fork out €500,000 for his signature. Arsenal’s Jack Henry-Francis is a highly regarded midfielder while an abundance of attacking talent is evident with Celtic recruit Johnny Kenny, Sinclair Armstrong of QPR, and Andrew Moran from Brighton. Mipo Odubeko and Evan Ferguson are eligible but in the U21s whereas Fulham’s Ollie O’Neill will remain with the younger group for the first two games against England and Portugal. Ireland complete their group by facing Armenia next Tuesday.Â
Here we look back at six encounters over the past 24 years against the Auld Enemy in UEFA competition, highlighting some of the graduates to emerge.
An England side captained by Matthew Upson and backboned by Jonathan Woodgate, David Dunn, and Michael Ball needed a late winner from Alan Smith to win. It was only a minor setback for Brian Kerr’s team, for they walloped the hosts 3-0 in their last game to edge out England and top the group on their path to gold. Eight of the 14 Irish players involved against Howard Wilkinson’s England went on to win senior caps, including Robbie Keane, Richard Dunne, and Stephen McPhail.
Kerr was again at the helm, coming towards the end of his tenure before elevating to the senior post, and he masterminded a comeback that would clinch Ireland a place at the U20 World Cup. Darren Carter and Dean Ashton scored to leave Ireland facing an uphill task in the second half. Kerr substituted goalkeeper Brian Murphy for Wayne Henderson at the interval, Liam Kearney became a creative spark and Stephen Kelly completed the turnaround by making it 3-2.
Tolka Park was packed to see an Ireland team, now under the management of Seán McCaffrey, kick off their group against an English outfit that included Stewart Downing, Liam Ridgewell, Justin Hoyte, and Wayne Routledge.
Mini-group hosts Ireland had captain Glenn Whelan controlling midfield, flanked by Stephen Bradley and Willo Flood, but a moment of magic settled the match and ultimately the group. Both teams went on to beat Switzerland and Slovenia, so it was Ciaran Donnelly’s late goal that silenced the Tolka crowd.
That the match-winner struggled to make an impact on the club circuit, eventually drifting to Glentoran, underlined the precarious nature of football.
Seven years later and an identical result for the late McCaffrey. England had lost the previous year’s final to Ukraine and Ireland needed to usurp both in the group to qualify.
During a tight match, Robbie Brady was getting the measure of Phil Jones and Andros Townsend was being shackled by Conor Hourihane but, once again, a piece of brilliance settled the outcome. Before Troy Parrott, Spurs had Dean Parrett as their starlet and his free-kick gave the English an early advantage in the group they held a grip on. That was necessary, for Ireland beat Ukraine and Bosnia-Herzegovina in their last two matches.
Needing a win in their last match for a quarter-final place, Ireland went up against a stellar England side, even without the marquee name Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Reece Oxford was a tower of strength at the back but Chelsea’s Ike Ugbo and Marcus Edwards of Tottenham were repelled by the agility of CaoimhÃn Kelleher in the Ireland goal until the latter forged a breakthrough with nine minutes left. That both Ugbo and Edwards have moved to the continent, Belgium and Portugal respectively, to pursue their senior careers underlines the difficulty in making the final step. Kelleher has been the only one of that Ireland team to win a senior cap but Connor Ronan may in the next week and Zack Elbouzedi won’t be far behind.
It was an extreme contrast in pre-match form. While Ireland had been hammered 7-0 by Germany, yet still qualified from their group, England came into the last-eight by scoring 10 goals and conceding none in their pool. This was the England generation of Phil Foden, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Jadon Sancho — backed by a 16-year-old Emile Smith-Rowe — but Ireland restricted them to a wondergoal by Sancho. Nathan Collins and Adam Idah in the Irish ranks were also a year younger and the pair, along with Aaron Connolly and Lee O’Connor, have since become senior internationals.
The implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Ireland’s Nations League campaign are peripheral but fans have an opportunity to assist the war-torn country on Friday.
In response to the humanitarian crisis, the Irish Football Supporters Partnership, consisting of fans groups ISN, CRISC and YBIG, have organised a charity match between supporters of Ireland and Ukraine for this Friday.
The game will be held at Home Farm FC in Whitehall, Dublin with tickets priced at €10.
Even if people are unable to attend the fund-raiser, taking place on the eve of Ireland’s friendly against Belgium, they can contribute by purchasing a virtual match ticket.
All monies raised will be donated to the Red Cross in their quest to alleviate the suffering imposed on the Ukrainian people since Vladimir Putin last month declared war on their neighbours.
The Lord Mayor of Dublin Alison Gilliland will attend, as will the Ukrainian Ambassador to Ireland, Larysa Gerasko.
Future Ticketing have waived all fees for this fixture. Entertainment will be provided in the Home Farm bar at Whitehall post-match with folk and ballads group Catalpa topping the bill.
Tickets can be purchased at the following portal: https://embed.futureticketing.ie/c/ybig-ukraine/
As for the summer internationals, Stephen Kenny has admitted that swapping the original home fixture against Ukraine on June 4 — which clashes with their World Cup playoff against Scotland — for the visit of Armenia would be the logical change. He’d have no issue facing Armenia home and away in the space of four days.
Senior international Abbie Larkin is the star attraction for the Ireland who begin their tilt at reaching the women’s Under-17 Euros tonight at Tallaght Stadium.
As top seeds in the group, and enjoying home advantage, Ireland are favourites to qualify for the first finals since 2017.
Up first is a meeting with Slovakia before facing Finland on Saturday and finally Iceland next Tuesday.
Donegal sisters Jodie and Keri Loughrey are ones to watch and while the only foreign-based player, Sophie Morrin of Liverpool has withdrawn due to Covid-19 to be replaced by Ellen Dolan, there’s depth in the squad.
Shelbourne’s Larkin, one of six players to have already lined out in the senior women’s national league, steps back to her age-group after being blooded by senior boss Vera Pauw in last month’s Pinatar Cup in Spain.
Tickets for the games at Tallaght are priced at €5 for adults with Under-16s going free with a ticket secured in advance.
