Irwin impresses as Irish hold Ukraine at bay

LIAM IRWIN, son of former Manchester United stalwart Denis, showed enough on his international debut last night to suggest he could become a regular fixture on the international underage scene.

In a game where chances were scarce, the gritty young Bolton Wanderers midfielder put in a decent shift during his 65 minutes on the pitch and is likely to retain his place for the UEFA U19 qualifiers in October.

Though his dad wasn’t present last night to witness his bow, the 56-times capped ex-Ireland defender is expected to attend Frank Cooke Park tomorrow for the second match of double-header friendly between the nations (1pm).

Ireland were made to play second fiddle for the large part against their visitors and only had a half-volley from captain Robbie Brady which was easily saved to show on the chances count in the first half.

In contrast, Irish goalkeeper Sean McDermott was kept busy, not least on 35 minutes when the most impressive player on the night, Ukraine’s Vladislav Calitvintsev, smashed a shot from 35 yards that rebounded off the crossbar.

Five minutes earlier, the stylish striker left two defenders trailing in his wake inside the Irish half only to fizz a shot from the edge of the box wide of McDermott’s post.

It was much the same during the early exchanges of the second period with Ireland pegged back. Calitvintsev was inches wide from another thunderbolt on 55 minutes and he squandered the best opening of the night 20 minutes later by blasting over the crossbar from six yards.

Sean McCaffrey’s Irish side rallied in the latter stages and carved out a series of opportunities. Sunderland defender John Egan couldn’t get a proper connection to Brady’s corner 10 minutes from time and debutant Declan Walker forced a superb save from Galchuk with a 30-yard free kick three minutes later.

Shamrock Rovers tyro Craig Walsh also came close to finding the breakthrough five minutes from the end.

His speculative lofted effort from the right touchline required the Ukraine ‘keeper to back-peddle and tip the effort onto the crossbar.

Ireland U19: McDermott (Arsenal); Walker (Wrexham), Egan (Sunderland), O’Connor (Blackburn Rovers), McGinty (Manchester United); Horgan (Salthill Devon), Byrne (Leicester City), Irwin (Bolton Wanderers), McDonnell (Dundalk); McEleney (Derry City), Brady (Manchester United),

Subs: Rafter (Colchester United) for Horgan, Walsh (Shamrock Rovers) for Byrne, McCarey (Wolves) for McDermott (all h/t), Hendrick (Derby County) for Irwin (65 mins), Osbourne (Drogheda United) for McGinty (73 mins), Connolly (Derby County) for McEleney (82 mins)

Ukraine U19: Galchuk, Ordets, Noiok, Karavaev, Shabanov, Churko, Calitvintsev, Dolhiy, Budkivskiy, Babenko.

Subs: Denchuk, Koval, Nasonov, Mochulenko, Ryabusthko.

Referee: Neil Doyle (Dublin).