Vincent Butler’s Republic of Ireland Under-16s were beaten 1-0 by a strong Finnish outfit in an international friendly at Whitehall last night.
Both sides failed to take a firm grip early on and it was Finland who tested the Irish early on as Charlton Athletic's Harry Lee was forced to make a dramatic save after twelve minutes following some patient build up from the Finnish.
This attack spurred Ireland on and two minutes later, Aaron Doran drifted a sublime cross into the opposing box and the clearance was only hacked as far as Gearoid Morrissey, who saw his powerful 20 yard shot hit the underside of the crossbar and bounce back into the grateful arms of the Finnish 'keeper.
After 25 minutes, Doran was again causing severe problems for the Finland defence, capitalising from some slack defending before sending his long range effort just over the bar. Heikki Karkainen in the Finnish goal came to the rescue of his defence when a Doran cross was met by Ronan Murray whose half-volley was saved at point blank range.
Butler’s men should have been ahead just before the half-time whistle. A long ball forward from midfield caused the Finnish 'keeper to collide with an in-rushing defender who half cleared the ball to Greg Cunningham. 15 yards from goal, Cunningham’s shot went narrowly wide from a tight angle.
Butler made three changes at half-time and his substitutions almost paid dividends instantly. Australian born David O'Brien battled for possession on the wing and applied a pinpoint cross to Murray, who saw his headed effort clip the post. Finland were very quick on the counterattack and instantly had a chance at the opposite end as substitute Armean forced Lee into a great save.
Finland scored the opening and ultimately decisive goal of the game after 66 minutes when some sloppy defending from John Dunleavy allowed Della Valle a clear run at goal and he made no mistake as he applied a finish from 10 yards.
The Irish pushed for a late equaliser and were once again denied by the Finnish 'keeper when Blackburn midfielder Doran brought a long ball under control in the box, turned his marker with one touch, only to see Karkainen tip his effort past the post.
Butler was pleased with his side's performance after the result, saying: 'Obviously it is never nice to lose at home but our lads created some excellent chances. Were it not for a combination of bad luck and some excellent saves from their 'keeper, the result may have been different.'
He added: 'We will have the opportunity to turn around this result on Thursday as we face Finland again and I have no doubt that the lads will be looking forward to it.'
Republic of Ireland U-16 XI (v Finland): Harry Lee (Charlton Athletic), Niall Byrne (Shelbourne), Mark Power (Aston Villa), Kallum Keane (Derby County), Gavin Gunning (Blackburn Rovers),
Conor Clifford (Crumlin United), Aaron Doran (Blackburn Rovers), Gearoid Morrissey (Ringmahon Rangers), Darragh Satelle (Crumlin United), Ronan Murray (Erris United), Greg Cunningham (Mervue United).
Substitutes: John Dunleavy (Ballybofey Uniterd) on for Mark Power, 43 mins, Richard Towell (Crumlin United) on for Kallum Keane, 43 mins, David O’Brien (Crumlin United) on for Greg Cunningham, 43 mins, Shane Howard (Crumlin United) on for Darragh Satelle, 57 mins.
Under-16 International Friendly
Republic of Ireland v Finland
Thursday, 5 October
Whitehall, Dublin
Kick-off: 12.30pm
