Sean McCaffrey’s Republic of Ireland under-19 side defeated reigning European Champions Ukraine 1-0 to keep their hopes of qualifying for this summer’s UEFA Championship finals in France alive.
The winning strike came in the 60th minute when Conor Clifford coolly converted a penalty-kick.
The Irish had a tough task to begin with and it became even harder after Manchester United’s Robbie Brady was dubiously dismissed for a second yellow card after 47 minutes following an alleged verbal altercation with Ukraine’s Vasyl Pryyma.
Brady had been constantly antagonized by Ukraine fullback Temur Partsvaniia. That eventually led to the Manchester United being harshly booked for a late tackle on the right-back.
And the second-half started in chaos with Brady's sending off. Referee, David Borbalan from Spain issued both Brady and Pryyma yellow cards and after some delay he finally showed Brady the red.
Ireland responded superbly with Karl Sheppard in inspiring form up front as he battled with Ukraine’s defence to try to force an opening.
And they grabbed their qualification lifeline on the hour mark with Clifford's penalty, awarded when the same player collected a loose ball in Ukraine’s box and had his powerful shot was blocked by the trailing arm of a Ukrainian defender.
The referee did not hesitate to award the penalty and Clifford gave Ireland the lead with an audacious finish from the spot; sending the keeper to the right and then calmly chipping the ball down the middle of the goal.
Today's other game saw England beat Bosnia & Herzegovina 4-0, a result which sends them top of the table with six points from two games.
That result means that Ireland must now rely on Ukraine to defeat England by a single goal in the final game.
They must also beat Bosnia & Herzegovina by more than four goals to secure their passage to the UEFA Championship finals in France this summer.
