Givens admits Irish U21 hopes ended

Republic of Ireland Under-21 manager Don Givens today wrote off his side’s chances of qualifying for the European Championship finals following a 3-1 defeat in Israel.

The Irish never recovered from going 2-0 down inside the opening six minutes, with both goals coming in the space of 60 seconds.

First Yaniv Azrane headed home Moshe Ohayon’s corner and then Leeds defender Henry McStay scored an own goal beyond keeper Saul Deeney.

McStay managed to atone for his indiscretion when he hauled Ireland back into the Group Four match with a 35th-minute header and Givens’ side looked set to salvage something from the game.

But they also suffered a disastrous start to the second half and in the 52nd minute Israel wrapped up the win through Shlomi Arbeitman.

With just one win from four matches, Ireland’s chances of finishing in the top two are all but over.

A dejected Givens said: “We have very little chance of qualifying now. We needed a positive result and instead we have produced a very bad performance.

“To go two down after six minutes gave us a mountain to climb, although I thought at half-time we could get something from the game.

“But we allowed Israel to play better than I would have thought and the third goal at the start of the second half ended it for us.

“After that we went to pieces and overall it was a very disappointing performance. I knew Israel were a good side technically, but we just performed extremely poorly on the day.”

With key players missing, Ireland’s defence was radically revamped with McStay and Manchester United’s Paul McShane making his debut in a new-look pairing at the heart of the back four.

Givens conceded the inexperienced duo did struggle as he added: “It was quite difficult for the two centre-halves. But when you have three of your normal back four missing it eventually cost us.”