Republic of Ireland U19 v Romania U19 Live Commentary
Live commentary of Ireland’s final GROUP A game at the 2011 UEFA European Under 19 Championships against the hosts Romania.
Full-time: The semi-final against Spain will take place on Friday. Not sure which venue yet, but we’ll keep you informed. Once again, thanks for reading.
Full-time: Despite having a couple of great chances, the Irish defence held strong for the last twenty minutes to keep Romania out and leave them hitting and hoping with long shots outside the box. A decent result, perhaps not the win Paul Doolin would have hoped for, but qualification is the most important thing, and that’s exactly what Ireland have done. Well done lads.
Full-time: Ireland are through with a draw. Second place is ours. Nothing to do with head-to-heads or goal difference, we’re through with more points. Czech Rep 9, Ireland 4, Greece 3, Romania 1.
90+5 min: Can’t be long to go now…
90+3 min: Patrick Walleth comes on for Romania. Doubt he’ll be a hero at this stage.
90+3 min: The Czechs sent on another player in extra time, and that’s their match over. Czech Rep 1-0 Greece. Romania have to score two to knock Ireland out.
90+1 min: Four minutes’ stoppage time in both games. We’re starting ours, but the Greeks are heading into their last minute. Czech Republic sent on a late sub to slow things up.
90 min: Players from both sides down with cramp now. O’Sullivan is the Irishman on the ground. Doherty’s yellow card means he’ll miss the semi-final by the way.
88 min: Smith’s touch is too heavy after an excellent through ball from Forde. Too close to the keeper.
87 min: Into stoppage time at the other game. No sure how many minutes though. Doherty and Egan went up for the ball there, and a stray elbow hits Doherty in the chest. He’s down for treatment.
85 min: O’Connor is told to leave the pitch to put his boot back on. He comes back on before the referee gives permission and he picks up a ridiculous yellow card. Stupid refereeing really.
84 min: O’Connor loses his shoe battling Nastasie near the corner flag. Man of the match the Romanian, I must say.
83 min: Decent passing from Romania, Stanciu gets a shot off. McCarey spills it, but gets down quickly to pick up the loose ball under pressure.
82 min: Better from Ireland, keeping control of the ball and getting it up field.
80 min: Scores remain the same thankfully. Just ten minutes of normal time left.
78 min: Ireland win a free in the Romanian half, gives us a chance to regain composure.
75 min: All Romania still. On the edge of our seats here. As it stands, a 1-0 loss would actually put us through. Hopefully that doesn’t happen though. Come on Ireland!
74 min: Eoin Wearen comes on for Samir Carruthers to help Ireland in midfield. Carruthers has been amazing so far in the tournament though. A real star.
71 min: Romania on top now unfortunately. Carruthers saves with his shin on the line from Remes’ header.
70 min: Thundering challenge from Doherty on Amet sees him booked. Gavra has a chance from the free-kick, but is well closed down and the ball is cleared.
68 min: Great news from the other game. Tomáš Přikryl has scored for the Czech Republic. That puts them at 9 points, Ireland 4, Greece 3, and Romania 1 as things stand.
67 min: Carruthers puts Knight through, but he overhits his ball to Smith at the back post. Lots happening now. Shot from distance from Benzar at the other end.
65 min: Couple of corners lead to Nastasie getting another shot, but it’s from outside the box and McCarey sees it all the way.
64 min: Connor Smith comes on for Conor Murphy. But it’s the other newcomer who nearly makes headlines. Gavra hits the bar from six yards out. Really should have scored. Very lucky for Ireland.
64 min: Knight’s first corner is a poor one. Romania counter, but McCarey is aware of the ball flighted in. Safe hands.
63 min: Christian Gavra comes on for Roman up front. Straight swap from Romanian boss Lucian Burchel.
61 min: Amet has acres of space on the wing, decent cross for Chitosca, but it’s headed over. Great chance for Romania that one.
60 min: An hour gone in the other game too. Both 0-0.
58 min: Nastasie again for Romania, but the defenders pressure him into hitting a weak shot at McCarey.
57 min: Kevin Knight comes on for Sean Murray. Murray had been playing well after a slow start, but Knight will offer a little more up front.
54 min: Czech Republic have started the better in the other game, which is good news for Ireland.
53 min: Ireland have the ball in the net through Anthony O’Connor, however there’s only one defender between him and the goal as the goalkeeper was stranded after a weak punch, and it’s given offside. Correct call.
52 min: Murgoci booked for a challenge on Hendrick who looked to break after a clearance from Romanian keeper Branescu.
50 min: Nastasie again the danger-man, plays a quick one-two but drives his shot over.
48 min: Nastasie finds Amet in space inside the box, but he takes too much time to decide what to do and scuffs his chance.
46 min: Florin Ilie has replaced Gugu at half-time, Gugu went down at the end of the half, so it may be an injury change. Just four subs left on the Romanian bench.
46 min: Kazakh referee Artyom Kuchin gets us under way again.
Half-time: Back in action at the FRF Football Centre in Mogosoaia, where Greece’s Tasos Lagos has picked up a yellow card. If they qualify ahead of Ireland, he’d miss the semi-final.
Half-time: There’s no sign of a storm in or around Bucharest this evening either, as it’s a warm 27 degrees Celsius at the moment. But there are grey clouds on the horizon, so you never know…
Half-time: In case you were wondering (and I hope you were), second place in the group will see Ireland play Spain in the semi-finals. The same Spain who’ve scored four goals in each of their games so far.
Half-time: Even enough game so far, but Ireland have probably had the better chances. However, neither side really looked like scoring. At the moment, it’s 0-0 in both games, which would suit Ireland who need to match or better the Greek result to progress.
45 min: All Ireland in injury time, some great play from Murray, who is full of running. Doherty and Murgoci get involved in a little scuffle at the end of the half, but both escape with a warning.
45 min: Half-time in the other Group A match, 2 mins of stoppage time to play here.
45 min: Smart run from Hendrick gets to the box, but his left-footed cross ends up on top of the net.
44 min: Into stoppage time in the other game, still 0-0.
42 min: Passback from Gugu to the keeper is jeered by the crowd, who aren’t happy with how the home side are playing.
39 min: Shocking back pass from Remes puts it out for a corner. Needless. Murray’s corner leads to… another corner. Long corner this time, Egan gets up under pressure, but heads it over.
36 min: Ball comes into the Irish box, Remes goes up with McCarey and there’s a clash of heads. Remes is alright, but McCarey needs treatment. Roman also went down under a separate challenge.
35 min: Great free kick in finds Murray unmarked, gets up well for the header but puts it over. At the other end, Egan tackles well to stop Nastasie getting through.
33 min: At the other side of the pitch, Gugu gets booked for a challenge from behind on Forde.
31 min: Amet gets booked for a push on O’Sullivan after a nice through ball from Murray.
28 min: Half an hour gone in the other game where it’s still Czech Rep 0-0 Greece
26 min: Murray is a bit frustrated out there and gives away a silly foul by pulling the opponent’s jersey. Hopefully he can get on top of things.
25 min: Great pass from Hendrick finds Forde on the wing, he cuts inside but his shot is too tame.
24 min: Wonderful play from Carruthers sets O’Sullivan off, but his pass has too much zip on it for Murray to get to.
23 min: Nice header away by Egan from Chitosca’s ball in, Romania getting back into it now.
20 min: Still 0-0 in the other game, where Greece have had all the shots.
18 min: Good possession from Ireland, Forde seems to hold on for too long but releases it for Carruthers. Unfortunately his pass finds Murray offside.
15 min: Decent passing from Ireland, get the ball into the box, but Doherty goes down too easily looking for the penalty. Could have put the ball out as a Romanian was down injured though.
13 min: Settling down now a little after that dominant spell from Romania. Forde again looking to be the main outlet.
11 min: Better play from Ireland, but Murray’s cross is sliced.
10 min: Another great break from Romania. Chitosca with the chance, straight at McCarey and out for a corner.
8 min: Another great shot from Nastasie, who is looking very potent in attack. McCarey tips it wide. Doherty hoofs the corner clear.
7 min: Great run from O’Sullivan into space, but he leans back to much taking the shot and it goes over.
5 min: Roman goes for a scissors kick after Nastasie’s cross. He falls over though.
3 min: Stanciu sets Nastasie off with a gorgeous pass, but the shot rifles wide.
2 min: Ireland putting pressure on the Romanian defence to win a throw.
0 min: First action of the game is an offside for Murphy.
Pre-match: Czech Republic and Greece are underway. We’ll keep you updated!
Pre-match: Romania line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Roman leading the attack.
Pre-Match: O’Connor has moved to left back to accommodate Shaughnessy in the middle beside Egan.
Pre-match: Much bigger crowd for today’s match as it’s the hosts. The fans are loudly singing their anthem at the moment.
Pre-Match: Thanks to suspensions to Alin Cârstocea and Tiberiu Serediuc, Romania can only name five men on the bench. Irish boss Paul Doolin starts Conor Murphy up front once more, with Joe Shaughnessy replacing Derrick Williams in the back four.
TEAMS:
Ireland – Aaron McCarey; Matt Doherty, John Egan (C), Anthony O’Connor, Joe Shaugnessy; Jeff Hendrick, Samir Carruthers, John O’Sullivan, Sean Murray, Anthony Forde; Conor Murphy
Romania – Laurenţiu Brănescu, Laurenţiu Brănescu, Sebastian Remeş, Adrian Avrămia, Romario Benzar, Ionuţ Năstăsie (C), Ionuţ Gugu, Sebastian Chitoşcă, Enghin Amet, Mihai Roman, Nicolae Stanciu
Pre-match: With the Czech Republic sitting top of Group A on six points after their second-half comeback win over the Republic of Ireland on Saturday, and Greece’s 1-0 win over hosts Romania, it all comes down to the last the final two matches to decide who will progress to the semi-finals. Amazingly all four teams can qualify, and Ireland can even go through to the last four with a loss this evening at the City Stadium in Bernini.
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