Irish U17s off to flyer in Castlebar

Ireland U17 3 Azerbaijan U17 0

Manchester City midfielder Jack Byrne opened the scoring from the penalty spot on 13 minutes after being taken down inside the box Nasirov Budaj.

Ireland, in manager Tom Mohan’s first match at the helm, controlled the friendly and should have been further ahead at the break, only for Dean O’Halloran to see his shot saved by Agaseid Gasimov.

Conor Dimaio extended Ireland’s lead on the hour when his shot from the edge of the box deflected past Gasimov before substitute Cody Mulhall added the third in stoppage time with a close-range finish.

The nations meet again tomorrow at the same venue (12 noon) in the second part of the double-header.

IRELAND: Burke (Sunderland); Dempsey (Aston Villa), Baba (Castlebar Celtic), Cleary (Liverpool), Rainey (Bonagee Utd); Donnellan (College Corinthians), Dimaio (Sheffield United), Byrne (Manchester City); O’Halloran (Fulham), Stokes (Leeds United), O’Hanlon (Liverpool).

Subs: Confey (St. Kevin’s Boys) for Stokes, Toland (Swilly Rovers) for Donnellan, Galvin (Ipswich Town) for O’Hanlon, Mulraney (Nottingham Forest) for O’Halloran (all 56 mins), Moseley (Birmingham City) for Rainey, Mulhall (Stella Maris) for Dimaio (both 75 mins).