Noel King’s Ireland Under-21 side ran out comfortable 4-1 winners over Liechtenstein in Eschen, with Shrewsbury Town striker James Collins stealing the show with a hat-trick.
Liechtenstein opened the scoring when Kieber struck on 14 minutes but some sloppy defending allowed Ireland back into the game on 26 minutes, when Collins headed home at the near post from a Robbie Brady corner.
Just four minutes later, Collins put Ireland in front when he got onto the end of a Greg Cunningham cross. In confident mood, the Shrewsbury Town striker completed his hat-trick just another four minutes later.
The scoring was complete shortly before half-time when an assertive header from Shane Duffy made it 4-1 – a lead the Republic readily held through to full time.
