Ollie O’Neill’s last-gasp heroics against Sweden extend Irish football’s feelgood factor
Ollie O’Neill fires past Sweden goalkeeper Samuel Brolin in injury time in Tallaght.
Jim Crawford has placed his focus on the March 29 rematch against Sweden after his Ireland U21s toppled the Euro qualification group leaders at Tallaght on Tuesday night.
Just as the last seconds of a must-win match for Ireland were running out, 18-year-old supersub Ollie O’Neill cut inside to bury the only goal over the 92 minutes.
He had been introduced eight minutes later, tasked with delivering the goods to revive a campaign to secure a playoff for the 2023 finals in Georgia and Romania.
London-born O’Neill is the reigning Fulham Scholar of the Year, joining the Cottagers after Brentford’s academy folded.
He has been part of the Ireland set-up since the U16 Victory Shield, declaring through his family from Waterford, Kerry and Galway, and fast-tracked from the U19s whose Euro qualification mini-group in Bulgaria clashed.
O’Neill will be spending Christmas with his relatives, some of whom were present for his magic moment, in the west.
It was the final action of the contest and sparked wild celebrations among the Ireland players and staff. The sole pity was that only 1,525 turned up to watch the drama.
Dropping points in the away draw to Luxembourg and defeat in Montenegro left Ireland playing catch-up on the Swedes and top seeds Italy, who recorded a 2-0 victory at Tallaght last Friday.
That meant nothing short of three points would do for the last four qualification games to remain meaningful.
In contrast to the fast start in the last campaign, when Crawford was assistant to Stephen Kenny, Ireland will have to outpace the top two in the run-in to split them. That begins with their next qualifier away to the Swedes.
“This win puts us right back in it,” Crawford told RTÉ Sport after sinking the yellow submarine, the first team to do so in their seven games of the campaign.
“It gives us huge belief and turns the return game into a huge match.”
It appears Crawford will be facing a different manager on that occasion after Poya Asbaghi was reported to be taking over at English Championship club Barnsley this week.
“Losing the game with the last kick is as sad as it happy when you win it at the end,” said the departing Swedish boss. “We have had a really good year and the team still has European qualification in their own hands.”
Key to Ireland’s success was keeping Anthony Elanga quiet. His brace in Friday’s 4-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina put him top of the scoring charts across the entire qualification groups with six goals and he look menacing early on.
Ireland full-back Lee O’Connor was familiar with the Manchester United winger from his time at the club as an apprentice but following some early nervous moments eventually got him under wraps.
Sweden were slick with their movement and it took a save from Brian Maher to deny Rami Al Hajj on 20 minutes.
Ross Tierney, drafted into the side in place of Conor Noss, almost put the hosts ahead just before half-time but he was unable to connect with a cross from Will Smallbone.
Dangerous striker Amin Sarr went close for the visitors but Tyreik Wright missed a sitter at the other end six minutes from full-time, firing tamely at Samuel Brolin when he was left unmarked six yards out. Substitute Will Ferry almost spurned a great chance.
But with the game seemingly heading for a draw, O’Neill became a hero by jinking past his marker and tucking the ball into the bottom left corner.
He was entitled to revel in the moment having missed last month’s gathering due to contracting Covid-19.
After Ireland travel to Scandinavia four months’ from now, they’ll complete the campaign with a triple-header in June. There’s Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro at Tallaght before they travel to Italy on June 14.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
