Ireland U-20s edge Italy after extra time

Ireland U-20s 9 Italy U-20s 6

The Ireland Under-20s have made it two wins on the trot at the IRB Junior World Championship by outlasting Italy in a game that went to extra time at Cardiff Arms Park tonight.

Scrum half Ian Porter landed the match-winning penalty kick in the 99th-minute.

The Ulster youngster was the Irish hero in the second period of extra-time as he fired over a penalty from 45 yards which guaranteed Ireland a top-10 finish in the tournament.

The match was locked at 6-6 after normal time and neither side had a clear chance in the sudden-death period of extra-time until Porter grabbed his late chance for glory in a game dominated by the boot.

Ireland, who beat Italy 6-0 in this year's Six Nations, opened the scoring with a straight forward penalty from Porter.

However, Italy out-half Riccardo Bocchino was able to level with his second place-kicking attempt from about 40 metres.

The best try-scoring opportunity went to Ireland but left winger Chris Cochrane knocked on when trying to touch down a kick through, which meant right winger David Kearney was denied the score following up.

Ireland re-established their lead at the start of the second half when Porter added his second penalty, again from straight in front of the posts on the 22-metre line.

Bocchino levelled when he was given a 40-yard penalty shot with eight minutes to go after the Ireland backs strayed offside.

With extra-time looming the rain started to come down heavily. As the game ticked past the 80 minutes, Ireland were given a last difficult chance to snatch the victory in normal time.

The Italian pack infringed at a ruck just inside the Irish half and Porter stepped up to attempt the penalty from 52 yards. However, his low effort did not threaten the posts and it finished 6-6 in normal time.

IRELAND UNDER-20: Niall Morris (Blackrock College/Leinster); David Kearney (Lansdowne/Leinster), Eoin O'Malley (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Conor Cleary (Greystones/Leinster), Chris Cochrane (Queen's University/Ulster); Martin Dufficy (Dublin University/Leinster), Ian Porter (Queen's University/Ulster); Paul Karayiannis (Queen's University/Ulster), Jason Harris-Wright (Greystones/Leinster), Stephen Archer (UCC/Munster), Ian Nagle (UCC/Munster), Eoin Sheriff (Lansdowne/Leinster), Kieran Essex (UL Bohemians/Munster), Paul Ryan (Blackrock College/Leinster) (capt), Patrick Mallon (Lansdowne/Leinster).

Replacements used: Michael Entwistle (Ballymena/Ulster) for Mallon (31 mins), James Sandford (Queen's University/Ulster) for Nagle (62), Ben Barclay (UCD/Leinster) for Archer (67), Stephen Douglas (Ballymena/Ulster) for Harris-Wright (76), Ian Madigan (Blackrock College/Leinster) for Chris Cochrane (10, extra-time second half). Not used: David Moore (Blackrock College/Leinster), Jamie Smith (Ballymena/Ulster).

ITALY UNDER-20: Andrea Pratichetti; Andrea Bacchetti, Roberto Quartaroli, Alberto Chiesa (capt), Edoardo Rotella; Riccardo Bocchino, Carlo Vannini; Andrea De Marchi, Tommaso D'Apice, Massimiliano Ravalle, Emiliano Caffini, Alberto Cazzola, Filippo Giusti, Simone Favaro, Luca Petillo.

Replacements used: Alessandro Castagnoli for Vannini (62 mins), Rudolph Mernone for Caffini (63), Gabriele Morelli for D'Apice (75), Joshua Furno for Giusti (7, extra-time first half), Alberto Marconato for Bocchino (6, extra-time second half). Not used: Lorenzo Sebastiani, Giacomo Bernini.

Referee: Tim Hayes (Wales).

Scorers:

reland: Pens: Ian Porter 3

Italy: Pens: Riccardo Bocchino 2