Ireland U21s battle back twice to earn draw with Slovakia at Turner’s Cross
Jed Hakiki scored Ireland's second equaliser against Slovakia. Pic: ©INPHO/Bryan Keane
Ireland twice came from behind to rescue a share of the spoils from their European U21 qualifier against Slovakia at Turner’s Cross.
It looked like a pair of wicked deflections would cost the Boys in Green, but a goalkeeping blunder allowed Jad Hakiki to snatch a valuable draw in front of the 3,872 home crowd.
They had to survive a heart-stopping moment late on as Nino Marcelli managed to hit the crossbar twice with one shot. It rebounded off Noah Jauny’s head and back onto the woodwork before being gathered by the grateful goalkeeper.
Ireland extended their unbeaten streak to 12 consecutive home games, although they would’ve targeted victory against the third seeds.
Jim Crawford’s side remains second behind Slovakia on goal difference in Group D. Their next stop is Birmingham for a meeting with European champions England. Lee Carsley’s side still hold a game in hand.
Crawford made three changes from last month’s 1-0 victory over Andorra. Two came in defence. Peterborough United’s David Okagbue made his first competitive U21 start at centre-back, meaning captain James Abankwah shifted over to right-back. Jacob Slater regained the other full-back berth, while Adam Murphy came into the midfield.
The game exploded into life with two goals inside four minutes.
Ireland made the first mistake, failing to deal with a deep free-kick. They compounded the error when allowing Daniel Danihel to turn back onto his left foot. The defender may not have appeared the biggest threat, but his potshot took a wicked deflection off Mason Melia’s head. Jauny had no chance to prevent the own goal.
It took Ireland just 86 seconds to get level. This time, Slovakia didn’t clear Seán Grehan’s long throw-in. Amid the scramble for possession, Cathal McCarthy flicked the ball into Jamie Mullins’ path. The Wycombe Wanderers midfielder didn’t hesitate to ping an unstoppable half-volley into the bottom corner.
The game settled down from there. Rocco Vata had two attempts, lashing the first over the bar before pulling the second wide. In between, Jauny was called into action to parry Tadeas Hajovsky’s fierce shot.
Melia’s half didn’t get any better as he was booked for a penalty appeal. The referee adjudged the St Pat’s striker had gone down too easily.
The half ended as it started, with Ireland conceding via a deflection. Slovakia earned a corner when Jauny pushed Matej Riznic’s drive around the post. Grehan headed to the edge of the box, but Vata didn’t close down Marcelli in time. His speculative effort clipped off Grehan’s heel, wrong-footing Jauny and rolling into the net.
With no time to respond to that sucker punch, Ireland went in 2-1 behind.
They returned determined to get level. McCarthy’s backheel was gathered by Adam Hrdina before Hakiki fired over.
But the Sligo Rovers star would register his first goal for the 21s on the hour. From a quick throw-in, the impressive Adam Murphy put in a cross that appeared to be heading out of play. Hrdina decided to claim the ball, but dropped it straight to Hakiki, who took his time before sending a deflected shot to the net.
Leon Ayinde made an immediate impact within a minute of making his Ireland debut on home turf. The Corkonian dribbled down the line before squaring for Vata to swing over the bar. However, Ayinde’s night ended moments later when pulling up clutching his hamstring.
Slovakia almost stole a winner in the 89th minute. After a good move down the right, Marcelli pulled the trigger. However, his shot bizarrely hit the crossbar twice. First, it took a deflection to rebound off the woodwork and onto Jauny’s head. That sent it onto the underside of the crossbar, but not across the line as the ball bounced into the Brest keeper’s arms.
Mullins won a dangerous free-kick, but sent it into the Shed, while Jauny caught a last-gasp Hajovsky attempt.
Jauny; Abankwah, Okagbue, Grehan, Slater; McCarthy (Noonan 68), Mullins, Adam Murphy; Hakiki (Ayinde 68) (Kone-Doherty 74), Melia, Vata (O’Mahony 90+2).
Hrdina; Pavek (Hranica 69), Paliscak, Jakubko, Danihel (Mielke 79); Hajovsky, Gidi, Gajdos (Murgas 69); Riznic, Griger (Pira 79), Marcelli (Fiala 90+1).
L Tschudi (Switzerland).
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