Irish U21s suffer worst result in two years

Switzerland Under-21 4 Republic of Ireland Under-21 2

Republic of Ireland’s youngsters suffered their worst result for two years on a bitter-sweet night for Stephen Elliott.

Sunderland striker Elliott struck his sixth goal on his 10th appearance at this level to become the under-21s all-time leading scorer, breaking a four-way tie with Andy Reid, Mark Kennedy and Graham Barrett.

But it was too little too late for manager Don Givens’ side, who were found wanting after dismantling Cyprus 3-0 in their opening European Championship qualifying game on Friday.

Ireland never recovered after going behind in the fourth minute, with a mistake from goalkeeper Wayne Henderson setting the tone for a hapless night which concluded with an own goal from Paddy McCarthy, so ending their 13-match unbeaten run.

It was certainly a case of unlucky for some, with Ireland making the worst-possible start at Stadium Neufeld, home of Young Boys Bern, courtesy of Notts County goalkeeper Henderson’s gift.

Henderson, replacing Swansea’s Brian Murphy, was caught in no man’s land as he came to meet a deep cross from Young Boys’ home favourite Alain Rochat.

The goalkeeper fell woefully short, allowing Stefan Lichtsteiner the simple task of heading into an empty net.

With confidence rocked, Givens’ side were then all at sea for the following 20 minutes and were lucky not to have found themselves further adrift at the break.

Just three minutes later Ireland could have been 2-0 down as Davide Calla found himself with room to spare inside the 18-yard box after being set up by David Degen – but dragged his shot inches wide with an angled right-foot shot.

With the Swiss looking to exploit gaps down the right wing, with Scarborough’s Stephen Capper struggling, Calla and Xavier Margairaz combined for the latter to float in a cross to the far post which just eluded the leaping Rochat.

The impressive Calla then glanced in a header which was narrowly over the angle of bar and post in the 17th minute, before Henderson pulled off a low save to his right nine minutes later from Baykal Kulaksizoglu.

The Irish posed little by way of an attacking threat throughout the opening 45 minutes, with their only chance that a searing 25-yard drive from Elliott six minutes from the break which was superbly touched over by Diego Benaglio.

But after scoring inside the opening four minutes of the first half, Switzerland duly repeated the trick at the start of the second, with a quick free-kick from Rochat played into Margairaz to slot past Henderson after holding off Blackburn’s John Fitzgerald.

Six minutes later and the game was effectively over as the same combination again made the Ireland defence pay, with another incisive pass from Rochat finding Margairaz, who then sent Henderson the wrong way from close range.

After Elliott had rammed home a spilled shot from Benaglio just after the hour for his place in the record books, the Stuttgart goalkeeper made amends with a fine spread-eagled save soon after to deny the 20-year-old, and Ireland a potential comeback.

Salt was then rubbed in the wounds in the 80th minute when Manchester City’s McCarthy steered into the roof of his own net a pullback from Calla, with Aiden McGeady’s penalty six minutes later a mere consolation.