Finland U-21 0 Republic of Ireland U-21 1
Jonathan Daly's last minute strike was enough to give the Republic of Ireland under-21’s a 1-0 victory over Finland in Helsinki tonight.
The Stockport striker, on as substitute, broke the stalemate when he latched onto a Wes Houlihan long ball and rocketed his shot into the roof of the net.
A poor game had seemed destined for a goalless draw almost as soon as the first ball had been kicked, but with time ticking down, the match was sparked into life by a late avalanche of chances. . Finland’s Juho Makela thought he was about to power his team to victory when he broke clear and was just ready to shoot when Clifford Byrne raced back to block brilliantly.
From the corner, Wes Houlihan cleared a Hannu Haarala header off the line.
Almost immediately, Don Givens’ side countered, with Michael Doyle breaking clear from midfield only for advancing substitute keeper Mikko Rahkamaa to block his goalbound shot.
Finland came forward again, but having lost the ball, saw Shelbourne’s Houlihan produced a wicked 50-yard pass which substitute Daly lashed home for an unlikely winner.
The hosts had started brightly, but the Irish defence, well marshalled by skipper Jim Goodwin, always seemed to have their measure . Even given his tender years, the Stockport centre-half cuts an imposing figure with his closely cropped hair and robust tackling style.
But he was never less than effective, as was Dwayne Matthis in front of him, the Huddersfield player able to break down most of Finland's most effective approach work and handing swiftly on to team-mates more able to attack.
The problem was it took a long time for the visitors to click into any kind of offensive gear.
Finnish keeper Otto Fredikson was a spectator for most of his involvement, which lasted until half-time, as was opposite number Joe Murphy.
A delicate Ben Burgess header from Michael Keane's cross dropped into the six-yard box with no green shirt in sight, then Burgess set up Keane himself, but the winger's finish was weak.
Mikko Innanen had two good opportunities at the other end, but Clifford Byrne blocked the first and the second went begging when the wide man completely missed his kick.
Either side of the interval, Paul Tierney showed why he earned a place on the Manchester United bench last Saturday with some forceful runs down the left flank.
However, given the current injury situation at Old Trafford, manager Alex Ferguson would no doubt have been relieved to hear the full-back quickly recovered after taking a bang on the shin midway through the second period.
If the first half had been poor, the second was worse, at least initially as neither team looked to have either the talent or inclination to break the deadlock.
In a brief flurry of activity, Innanen set up Henri Scheweleff, but he failed to connect with the volley.
Then, at the other end, UCD's Robert Doyle made better contact, but still blazed Houlihan's long ball over.
It seemed a certain stalemate, but upped popped Daly to send the visiting contingent into raptures ahead of tomorrow night's senior clash between the countries in the nearby Olympic Stadium.