O’Shea and Judge strike as Ireland stun Spain

Rep of Ireland U-21 2 Spain U-21 1

Surprisingly, it was a relatively comfortable victory over their Spanish counterparts, one which puts the Irish on a good footing as the impending European Championship qualifying looms large.

Turkish manager Hami Mindarali was an interested spectator and will have taken note of a very energetic Irish side that turned pressure into victory thanks to goals from Jay O’Shea and Alan Judge, one in each half.

Givens will hope for a better surface on Tuesday night but he couldn’t have asked for a better standard of opposition, even if they failed to fire on all cylinders.

The opening exchanges offered little more than a training ground knockabout would as the bobbly surface and stiff breeze saw to it that both sets of players operated pretty cagily.

Real Madrid forward Daniel Parejo roved around with admirable abandon, causing doubt for local hero, captain and eventual man-of-the-match, Eddie Nolan and his centre back partner, Darren Dennehy. And it was Parejo who in the 12th minute put Barcelona winger Jeffren through one-on-one with keeper Shane Redmond who, to the relief of the sell-out 3,400 crowd, was more than equal to a poor close-range shot. When the opener finally arrived, it wasn’t the prettiest but O’Shea didn’t seem to care. Garvan’s trusty left foot unleashed a dipping free from the right flank but Barcelona stopper Mino’s attempt to punch it clear was lame enough to leave it on a plate for the Galway winger who rifled home from a yard out.

As was the plan for half-time, Stephen Henderson, son and namesake of the watching Waterford United manager, replaced Redmond for his 45-minute stint between the sticks and was almost immediately in the thick of it, saving well from Bolado.

David Meyler then went close at the other end with an impressive left footed strike from the edge of the box in the 53rd before the dangerous Jeffren set up Parejo who took his time to tee up his shot before sending it just wide.

The Irish suffered a blow when losing Everton full back Coleman, who could miss Tuesday’s clash, but responded in the best way possible by making it 2-0.

And that second goal also made up for its scrappy predecessor. Cillian Sheridan broke down the left to whip in a low cross which the unmarked Judge swept home after Garvan has cleverly dummied to put Ireland firmly in control.

However, Spain struck back when Ireland failed to clear, the ball eventually spilling though to Bolado who had an easy task to slot home from close range.

In the closing minutes, Garvan had a cheeky long range punt from halfway while at the other end Emilio Nsue should have done better with a free header after Jordi Alba’s cross.

Spain pressed late on but Ireland stayed resilient throughout, Nolan sensational at the back while his team-mates in front of him chased and harried right until the end. It bodes well.

IRELAND U-21: S Redmond (Eastwood Town); S Coleman (Everton), E Nolan (capt, Preston), D Dennehy (Hereford), B Moloney (Nottingham Forest); S Gleeson (MK Dons), O Garvan (Ipswich), D Meyler (Sunderland); A Judge (Plymouth), J O’Shea (Galway), C Sheridan (Motherwell).

Subs: S Henderson (Bristol City) for Redmond, ht; G Carey (Bohemians) for Coleman, 55; JJ O’Toole (Watford) for Gleeson, C Fagan (Glenn Hoddle Academy) for Judge, 75.

SPAIN U-21: Mino (Barcelona); Azpilicueta (capt, Osasuna), Kiko (Villarreal), Mikel San José (Liverpool), Jose Angel (Sevilla); Jeffren (Barcelona), Camacho (Atletico Madrid), Marc Crosas (Celtic), Jordi Alba (Valencia); Bolado (Elche), Daniel Parejo (Real Madrid).

Subs: Bedia (Real Racing Club) for Crosas, 62; Michel (Valencia) for Bolado, Emilio Nsue (Castellon) for Camacho, Aaron (Rangers) for Jeffren, all 74.

Referee: Peter Sippel (Germany).