The Republic of Ireland Under-19 side lost 3-2 to their Georgian counterparts in a European Elite qualification clash in Slovakia this morning.
It was Ireland's third defeat in three games and with qualification for the finals in Poland in July already out of the equation, it was all about avoiding last place against the Georgians, who had also lost their opening two games.
Rati Tsinamdzghvrishvili opened the scoring for Georgia with a header on ten minutes and Gulverd Tomashvili doubled their advantage three minutes later.
Ireland battled back and Celtic defender Darren O'Dea had a goal ruled out after the referee adjudged him to have pushed his marker.
Skipper John Paul Kelly did find the net on 26 minutes when he ran onto a Billy Clarke pass and slotted the ball past the Georgian keeper.
Leeds United full-back Simon Madden had a goal disallowed for offside shortly after half-time but the Republic were left with a mountain to climb when Georgia added a third with 15 minutes to go through Beka Gotsiridze.
Adam Rooney scored his second goal of the tournament with seconds remaining when he headed home a cross from substitute Jonathan Hayes, but it was too little, too late.
