Republic of Ireland Under-21 2-1 Iceland Under-21
Johnny Kenny's 83rd minute goal made sure that the Republic of Ireland Under-21s announced their return to Cork with a come from behind win over Iceland in front of 6,048 spectators at Turner’s Cross.
The sold out crowd saw an action packed first half that included goals from Kristall Mani Ingason and Tom Cannon, and the dismissal of Festy Ebosele after he received two yellow cards in quick succession.
This wasn’t all about the result, it was all about a new group coming together with an eye on the upcoming Euro 2025 qualifiers that are set to get underway in the autumn.
Jim Crawford started with a back three of Bosun Lawal, Anslemo Garcia MacNulty, and Sean Roughan, and this continued the manager’s tradition of following the template Stephen Kenny has laid out with the senior team.
Everything was going according to plan from the moment the game kicked off as Ireland attacked a St Anne’s End filled with green and white jerseys. Then Kristall Mani Ingason found the top corner and Iceland scored from their very first shot on target.
Instead of stinging the crowd, it roared everyone on, and Ireland equalised just nine minutes later through Tom Cannon. The striker, who is currently on loan at Preston North End from Everton, raced onto a ball over the top that Andy Moran sent over and slotted neatly past the Icelandic goalkeeper.
It was route one football at its finest and Cannon should have got a second after he connected with a through ball from Lawal. His attempt to square it to Ollie O’Neill was intercepted by the Icelandic defence, who brought back three players to cover their lines.
This all happened just as Ireland had to deal with a second yellow card for Ebosele. He received the two bookings within seconds of one another, and Ireland immediately swapped to a 4-4-1 formation.
Crawford’s team didn’t sit back and try and grind this out, they continued what they were doing. That involved passing the ball and one of their first advances after the red card ended with Killian Philips heading a Roughan corner wide at the back post.
Iceland changed up their team at the break by bringing on four new players. As this new group got their bearings, Moran picked off a stray pass from Olafur Gudmundsson on the half-way line. He charged through and set up Joe Hodge and the Irish captain’s shot was stopped with a low save from Olafur Kristofer Helgason, who just came on.
The introduction of Sinclair Armstrong for Ollie O’Neill added a completely new dimension to the Irish forward line, and the QPR winger won a corner with his first run down the right hand side. This caused chaos inside the Icelandic penalty area and the referee blew for a free-out just as Roughan tried to get the get the ball back in.
It was the introduction of Kenny, who is on loan at Shamrock Rovers from Celtic, that totally transformed the Irish forward line. He brought a level of composure that complimented the pace of Sinclair on the wing.
Everything paid off when the striker’s first attempt went across the goal and in at the Shed End. His next touch inside the area was stopped by a reactionary save by the Icelandic goalkeeper. It was a frantic finish, as Ireland looked to see the game out in style, and they nearly had their moment when Hodge hit the underside of the post.
Other than that, it was the ideal comeback for an Irish team that last played in Cork in 2009.
Republic of Ireland: Tiernan Brooks; Sam Curtis, Sean Roughan, Anslemo Garcia MacNulty, Joe Hodge, Festy Ebosele, Bosun Lawal, Tom Cannon (Johnny Kenny 76), Andy Moran (Kian Leavy 62), Ollie O’Neill (Sinclair Armstrong 62), Killian Philips.
Iceland: Adam Ingi Benediktsson (Olafur Kristofer Helgason 45); Jakob Franz Palsson, Oliver Stefansson (Robert Orri Thorkelsson 45), Olafur Gudmundsson (Orri Hrafn Kjartansson 68), Anton Logi Ludviksson (Kristofer Jonsson 45), Andri Fannar Baldursson, Eythor Aron Wohler, Kristall Mani Ingason (Lukas Logi Heimisson 45), Isak Andri Sigurgeirsson (Ulfur Agust Bjornsson 68), Oli Valur Omarsson (Andi Hoti 5), Daniel Dejan Djuric.
Referee: Jamie Robinson
