O’Connor gets Irish off to a flier

IRELAND Under-19 manager Paul Doolin lavished praise on his young guns last night after they kicked off their European Championship finals campaign in Romania with a win.

Defender Anthony O’Connor picked the perfect time to break his scoring duck in netting a double but Doolin insisted it took a great deal of concentration to overcome what he described as “crazy weather”.

A freak outbreak of thunder and lightning on the outskirts of the city resulted in the earlier game between Spain and Belgium in Group B being abandoned 20 minutes in. As Ireland’s fixture was being played less than four miles away, the heavy rain which fell caused Polish referee Pawel Gill to delay confirming the match going ahead until five minutes before kick-off.