Ireland U19 1-3 Serbia U19
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND Under 19s faced Serbia at Tallaght Stadium this afternoon in their final UEFA U19 Championships Elite Qualifying Group Four tie needing at least a victory and other results to go their way in order to progress.
A 2-1 win against Iceland and a narrow defeat to Turkey in their last fixture saw Ireland sit third in their group one point behind both Turkey and Serbia on four points each.
Unfortunately for Paul Doolin’s side, goals from Živković and two from Veljko Simić sealed the win for Serbia and qualification ahead of Turkey – on goal difference – to the UEFA U19 Championships set to be held in Hungary this July.
Serbia started liveliest and had their first chance after eight minutes. Neat build up play between Staniša Mandić and Andrija Živković saw the winger running at Irish left-back Dylan Barnett and Živković’s cross-come-shot drifted into the box and forced goalkeeper Eric Grimes to tip the shot onto the crossbar.
Serbia’s striking partnership, Sergej Milinković Savić and Mandić, were causing the Irish defence numerous problems throughout the first half with their movement. Meanwhile, Ireland’s lone striker Sam Byrne was being forced to drop deep to try and bring Ireland’s wingers Dylan Connolly and Steven McCarthy into the game.
Just before the half hour mark, Ireland had two excellent chances to take the lead. Alex O’Hanlon dragged a shot wide after a quick counter-attack, while Byrne wasted the best chance to take the lead. Neat footwork from Connolly down the right allowed the winger to pick out Byrne with a cross, but the striker blazed his header over the bar with the goal beckoning.
Despite growing into the game, Ireland went behind on 36 minutes after Savić held the ball up well on the edge of the Irish 18-yard-box and picked out the onrushing Simić on the left and the winger composed himself to coolly finish past Grimes.
After making two changes at half-time, Doolin’s side were blitzed within a minute of the restart. Simić cut across goal to set up Živković for a shot, his attempt was parried away and the clearance fell to the feet of Mandic, who easily finished to double Serbia’s lead.
Serbia continued to threaten throughout the second half as Simić, Mandic and Živković linked up well to create chances, with latter having a shot rattle the crossbar after 55 minutes and on the hour was one-on-one with Grimes, but the keeper got low to save.
Serbia extended their lead after the hour mark as Simić grabbed his second, but Byrne quickly brought Ireland back within two-goals of their opponents, curling a free-kick past Serbian goalkeeper Vanja Milinković Savić to make it 3-1.
Ireland pushed Serbia in the closing ten minutes looking to grab a second goal, but the Serbian defence stood resolute and closed out the game to seal their qualification to the UEFA U19 Championships.
Republic of Ireland U19: Eric Grimes, Noe Baba, Kyle McFadden, Sean Long (c), Alan Browne, Dylan Connolly, Sam Byrne, Alex O’Hanlon (Ryan Goldsmith 45), Colm Crowe (Ryan Robinson 45), Steven McCarthy (Alan O’Sullivan 83), Dylan Barnett. Subs not used: Liam Bossin, Thomas Mulroney, Liam Kelly.
Serbia U19: Vanja Milinković Savić, Milan Gajić, Sergej Milinković Savić, Miladin Stevanović, Srdan Babić, Veljko Simić (Mijat Gaćinović 69), Nemanja Maksimović (c), Staniša Mandić (Radovan Pankov 85), Andrija Živković, Mihailo Ristić, Saša Zdjelar. Subs not used: Boris Radunović, Miroslav Bogosavac, Danilo Pantić, Dejan Dražić.
Referee: Benoit Bastien (France).