Givens praises Ireland U21s

Republic of Ireland Under-21 team manager Don Givens saw plenty of positives for the future even though his young side suffered a 1-0 defeat to reigning European Champions Holland in Venlo last night.

Foppe De Haan’s Dutch team averaged two years older but Ireland gave a good account of themselves, undone only by a 72nd minute goal from Feyenoord left-back Royston Drenthe.

Wolves striker Stephen Ward had a penalty saved in the first half while Aston Villa defender Stephen O’Halloran was dismissed late on.

But Givens was pleased with what he saw despite the result.

“It was a good performance. You’re never happy when you lose but I was reasonably happy with the performance,” he said.

“We knew it was going to be an uphill task with their boys being two years older than all of ours, with the exception of Paul Keegan.

“Over the 90 minutes I don’t think there was too much between the teams and if we’d scored the penalty it might have been a different game.

“The boys gave us an awful lot of effort and to get nothing out of it was a shame.

“Most of them played well. Paul Keegan was excellent, he plays that role in front of the defence so well, with Darron Gibson and Stephen Quinn impressing too. Our midfield was good overall.

“We played a system that was slightly new to the lads and it mightn’t have suited them all but up front Stephen Ward, Jim O’Brien and Billy Clarke all showed good touches.”