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Ireland’s Stanley Ashbee, Matthew Moore and Naji Razi dejected after Poland scored their fifth goal. Nikola Krstic/INPHO
Woe

Ireland outclassed by Poland in Euros opener

It was a miserable afternoon for Colin O’Brien’s side, who were well beaten.
5.36pm, 17 May 2023
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IRELAND U17S suffered an emphatic 5-1 loss in their Euros opener against Poland at the Hidegkuti Nandor Stadium in Budapest.

Ike Orazi gave Ireland an early lead but it was all downhill from there for the Boys in Green, who struggled to retain position throughout and were outclassed by their opponents ultimately.

The Poles made their dominance count thanks to some excellent finishing, with Mateusz Skoczylas (2), Dominik Szala, Karol Borys and substitute Szymon Kądziołka all on target in a one-sided contest.

Ireland got off to the perfect start, however, opening the scoring in the fourth minute.

Mason Melia played Naj Razi down the right and the Shamrock Rovers youngster’s cross found clubmate Orazi, whose initial shot was saved before he converted the rebound.

Poland responded well to the setback and were rewarded after a sustained spell of pressure 10 minutes later.

Skoczylas spotted an opening and sprinted into the right-hand side of the area, winning a 50:50 ball with Irish defender Stanley Ashbee, before leaving Jason Healy with no chance as he produced a clinical finish into the far corner of the net.

The Poles then almost went ahead midway through the first half. They exploited ample space on the counter-attack, with Borys playing through Oskar Tomczyk, whose finish was a few inches wide in what was a sign of things to come.

Poland went close again 10 minutes before the break — Jakub Krzyżanowski was afforded too much space on the edge of the area and his curling shot clipped the post.

Marcin Włodarski’s side were very much in control of the game at this point and looked like the far superior team technically, with a pinned-back Ireland playing on the counter-attack and being made to work hard off the ball.

Shortly before the break, there was another let-off for Colin O’Brien’s men. Tomczyk’s spectacular bicycle kick from a corner was cleared off the line by an alert Cory O’Sullivan.

But Poland did take a deserved lead on the brink of half-time. Krzysztof Kolanko’s free-kick was nodded into the net courtesy of an unmarked Szala’s looping header, leaving Ireland with an uphill task going into the second period.

The challenge became seemingly insurmountable just after the break. Filip Wolski cut it back to Skoczylas on the edge of the area, and his powerful shot found the roof of the net amid some more hesitant defending.

It went from bad to worse eight minutes into the second half. Borys received the ball in acres of space and his superb strike from distance made it four.

With Poland having the extra man in midfield, Ireland were struggling and O’Brien switched to a 3-5-2 formation in an attempt to curb their threat.

Matthew Moore, Romeo Akachukwu and Nickson Okosun were all introduced before the hour mark, but it felt like too little too late, with the Irish side finding it difficult to stem wave after wave of a clinical opposition attack.

Instead, it was a Polish substitute that had the desired effect. Szymon Kądziołka went on a mazy run on the edge of the area before his deflected shot went in off the post to complete the rout.

In the dying stages, the tempo unsurprisingly dropped. Poland looked the most likely to add to the scoreline, with substitute Mike Huras shooting just wide before Mason Melia tested Miłosz Piekutowski amid a rare Irish opening.

Kądziołka also hit the bar late on as his side were denied a sixth.

Ireland next face Wales at 3.30pm (Irish time) on Saturday at the Pancho Arena in Felcsut before their final group game at the same venue next Tuesday against hosts Hungary (7pm Irish time).

Needless to say, O’Brien’s men will have to produce a much-improved display this weekend to avoid a loss that would end their hopes of qualifying from the group stage.

Ireland: Jason Healy, Stanley Ashbee, Jake Grante, Cory O’Sullivan, Kaylem Harnett (Matthew Moore 46), Freddie Turley, Danny McGrath, Luke Kehir (Romeo Akachukwu 56), Naj Razi (Matthew Murray 71), Mason Melia, Ike Orazi (Nickson Okosun 56).

Poland: Miłosz Piekutowski, Igor Orlikowski,  Jakub Krzyżanowski (Michał Gurgul 71) Dominik Szala,  Igor Brzyski, Filip Rejczyk (Nico Adamczyk 71), Karol Borys (Szymon Kądziołka 63), Krzysztof Kolanko, Filip Wolski, Mateusz Skoczylas (Daniel Mikołajewski 63), Oskar Tomczyk (Mike Huras 55).

Author
Paul Fennessy
paul@the42.ie
@paulfennessy21
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