Michael Noonan (right) celebrates his goal with Ireland teammate Trent Kone-Doherty. James Lawlor/INPHO
Under 21 sides have often given forlorn Ireland supporters cause for optimism in recent years throughout some bleak times for the senior side, with talented players and promising performances giving hope for the future. Tonight in Tallaght wasn’t spectacular from Jim Crawford’s young charges but they got the job done against a stubborn Andorra side to make it two wins from two in the early days of their qualification campaign. Michael Noonan’s appearance from the bench was particularly thrilling, becoming the Ireland U21’s youngest ever scorer with a brilliant strike.
The buildup to this game was dominated by the senior team’s appalling loss to Armenia in Yerevan, which would have only served to remind these youngsters that a place in the senior set up shouldn’t be too far away if they can simply run and string a few passes together. They had already got up and running with an away win against Moldova last Thursday. Cathal McCarthy came in for his debut, whilst Harry Vaughan and Alex Murphy were the other changes from the trip to Moldova, with Mark O’Mahony, Jacob Slater and Adam Murphy dropping out.
Andorra had the first effort inside a minute, their number 7 Jan Guma Cerqueda drilling a low effort that forced Noah Jauny into diving to his left and saving. A couple of minutes later Ireland created a well worked opening with Jad Hakiki supplying the final pass for Rocco Vata only for keeper Marc de Castro Prat to pull off a good save.
After that Ireland really began to take hold of the game whilst also struggling to break Andorra down. The Andorrans defended and attacked in an old-school 4-4-2. Ireland’s basic shape was 4-2-3-1 but often became a 3-2-4-1 in possession, with Murphy becoming an extra centre back and Jacob Devaney moving into midfield alongside McCarthy, which allowed Jamie Mullins to push on.
Andorra created some danger from a clever corner in the 25th minute, but James Abankwah was there to clear. Ireland really struggled to involve Mason Melia in the first half, with there being shades of the senior team’s inability to adequately involve Evan Feguson. The game began to pass Crawford’s men by, with the Andorrans creating the odd bit of danger and Ireland offering little to no penetration. Too many players wanted to come towards the ball and not enough intelligent runs were being made off the ball and in behind to stretch Andorra.
Ireland eventually produced their first bit of good play in about twenty minutes with 34 minutes gone. McCarthy stopped an Andorran attack which allowed Hakiki to be set away. He played in Vata down the right who whipped in a sharp low cross which Harry Vaughan wasn’t quite able to get to at the back post. However, they were unable to build on that with the next ten minutes plus four of injury time being very uneventful. In truth it was a poor half from the Irish youngsters, with the passing laboured and the attacking unimaginative.
It was only natural to look to the bench, with Liverpool’s Trent Kone-Doherty looking primed to come on late in the first-half after Harry Vaughan went down in the process of attempting to finish that Vata cross. The winger from Derry came on at the break for the Hull City player.
Ireland started the second half on the front foot but a Jamie Mullins dead ball effort – which forced de Castro Prat into a simple save – was all they had to show for the first nine minutes of the half. Mullins and Vata probed with intent however, and the Andorrans began to resort to pulls of jerseys to prevent attacks. Mullins had a slightly more dangerous effort in the 55th minute after being set up by Vata but again the keeper saved easily. Ireland failed to build on that nice play, again being lulled into patterns of laboured passing.
In the 65th minute McCarthy went off for Michael Noonan, a very attacking change that caused an immediate change in gear. Almost straight away he put Ireland ahead. A clearance from an Andorra free-kick allowed Kone-Doherty to race away down the left. He dribbled with purpose before finding Noonan in the inside right. The Kildare teenager cut in and dispatched a quality finish from outside the box to lift this game from its stasis.
A couple of minutes after the goal Vata had a chance to make it 2-0 after good work from Murphy on the overlap, but his half volley could only find the gloves of de Castro Prat. Grehan then got the ball caught under his feet from a wide delivery a few minutes later when he could have also had a chance. The twinkled toed Kone-Doherty was important throughout that spell in the game in terms of getting his side on the front foot.
Ireland received a wake up call in the 76th minute when Aron Rodrigo unleashed a dangerous effort that didn’t go too far wide. A couple of minutes later Crawford made a cautious double swap, Melia and Hakiki being removed for Darius Lipsiuc and and Adam Murphy.
Jamie Mullins nearly produced a Paul Scholes-esque strike from outside the box to make it 2-0 with six minutes left but Ian Olivera of the visitors bravely stuck his head in the way and blocked it. Disaster nearly struck in the first minute of added time, when Andorra sub Yedid Santaella Prinetti cut the ball back for striker Gerard Sola Garcia Garcia who could only blaze wide from close range. It was a real heart-in-mouth moment, but Ireland survived it to claim the three points.
The win for Ireland was just about deserved, with the Andorrans producing no real danger in the second half and Ireland dominating possession without creating enough either. They improved significantly after the introductions of the very exciting Noonan and Kone-Doherty. Watching those two gave cause for optimism on a dark day for Irish football. They will face Slovakia next month with six points already beside their name on the table and an exciting cast of attacking talent to go alongside them.
IRELAND Starting XI: (4-2-3-1) – Jauny; Devaney, Grehan, Abankwah, Murphy; McCarthy, Mullins; Hakiki, Vaughan, Vata; Melia.