Ireland U19s fail to qualify for Euros after Greek defeat
ALL BUT THE FINISHING TOUCH: Rocco Vata of Republic of Ireland reacts to a missed opportunity on goal during the UEFA European Under-19 Championship Elite Round match between Greece and Republic of Ireland at Ferrycarrig Park in Wexford. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Ireland’s seniors must be mindful of avoiding this sort of Greek Tragedy in June.
Heading into this final set of elite stage qualifiers, only victory would do for Ireland to stand a chance of a first U19 European Championships since the class of Andrew Omobamidele, Joe Hodge and Andy Lyons reached the semi-finals in 2019.
They also needed leaders Slovakia to drop points in the other Group Five game being simultaneously but neither requirement came to pass.
Their part of their deal dissolved two minutes after the break when Greece profited from a misfortunate slip by Ireland captain James Abankwah. Georgios Koutsias still had work to do but drove towards the end line before squaring to Lampros Smyrlis for a simple tap-in.
The matchwinner was just on the pitch but the Greeks were always probing to gobble up errors, rather than implement an ambitious gameplan.
An opening day 2-1 defeat to the Slovaks put Ireland in early risk of elimination but they got back into the qualification mix on Saturday by beating Estonia 1-0 thanks to Kevin Zefi’s second half penalty.
A red card for the latest wonderkid off the St Kevin’s/Bohemians assembly line, James McManus, deprived Tom Mohan of some creativity but he was still able to leave Sean Moore on the bench amid his abundance of attacking options.
Belfast-born Moore has only recently declared and despite being eligible for next season’s U19 campaign, considering the likes of Newcastle United and West Ham United have serious interest in his signature, involvement appeared to be certain.
The Cliftonville talent eventually got on the pitch just past the hour and went close on a few occasions, the nearest being a shot that rolled agonisingly off the post.
By that point, with the Boys in Green chasing survival, the biggest cheers around Ferrycarrig Park came from the Greek bench. Slovakia got their win but the goal they conceded the Estonia – their only strike off the mini-series – proved definitive in sending the Greeks to Malta on goal difference.
Their goalkeeper Dimitrios Monastirls was by far the busiest yet the Irish propensity for failing to make possession and pressure count undid them.
St Patrick’s Athletic striker Thomas Lonergan was first to threaten for Ireland after 20 minutes, turning inside onto his left foot but unable to keep his shot down.
Sean Grehan also might have had them in the lead by the break, yet his header from John Ryan’s corner struck the post.
In between the Greeks, well aware of the prize on offer, twice also broke clear. On each occasion, it was Konstantinos Gkoumas who left the Irish defence in his wake, only to drag shots wide of the far post.
Then arrived the breakthrough against the run of play, after which Ireland added zeal to their earlier energy. They just lacked the accuracy to convert.
Twinkle-toed Inter Milan recruit Zefi drifted past two defenders to get a sight on goal but flashed this shot beyond the far post.
Rocco Vata, on the other wing, swung in a cross on the hour that fell to Zefi but his follow-up was deflected out for a corner.
Closer and closer Ireland were getting, with substitute Justin Ferizaj seeing his free-kick deflected over.
The substitutes injected vibrancy for Moore had a couple of potshots while Franco Umeh’s pace was instrumental in affording the northerner the chance he clipped off the post.
Always liable to the counterattack, Greece almost nicked a second but for Umeh racing back to clear off the line.
It was Greek celebrations at full-time, hopefully the type of scenes the travelling fans don’t have to see replicated in Athens on June 16.
O Mason; S Curtis, J Abankwah, S Grehan, J Ryan; O Gallagher, H Vaughan (J Ferizaj 63), A Murphy; R Vata (M O’Mahony 88), T Lonergan (F Umeh 74), K Zefi (S Moore 63).
D Monastirls; E Tasiouras, C Georgiadis, A Kalogeropoulos, D Keramitsis; N Spyrakos, A Symeonidis, Z Tsikos; K Gkoumas, S Tzimas, G Koutsias.
Sander Van Der Eijk (NED)
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