Rep of Ireland 0 Switzerland 1BEATEN BY a goal in stoppage time in their opening game against France, cruel fate continued to haunt the Republic of Ireland as they lost to an own goal to bow out of the tournament with a game still to play.
A mistake by Gavin Gunning had gifted France their winner in the opening match on Sunday. Bad luck followed the unfortunate left-back as he was again central to the unwanted drama when he sliced the ball into his own net early in the second half to give the Swiss their first goal of the tournament and, ultimately, a deserved victory.
While there was no faulting their effort and commitment, Ireland can have no complaints as they didn't create a real chance until added time when substitute Darragh Satelle volleyed over from Paul Murphy's cross.
Seconds earlier Swiss substitute Xherdan Shaqiri had shaved the outside of Gerard Hanley's post.
It pretty much went wrong for Ireland from the start as captain Conor Clifford played despite a tummy bug while fellow midfielder Gearóid Morrissey had to come off after just eight minutes with a quad muscle injury.
"Gearóid going off was another in a catalogue of what's happened this week," said manager Seán McCaffrey afterwards. "Having said that, I thought Paul Murphy played very well and I honestly thought before they scored that we would. We played better, but didn't really create any clear-cut chances apart from Darragh Satelle at the end.
"The Swiss were very organised. They've good players and got the wee break for the goal. We didn't deal with the ball in. We weren't high tempo enough. Though I thought we defended well, kept possession well, we didn't create enough chances and obviously didn't take any."
Richie Towell and Conor Hourihane returned from illness and suspension to bolster midfield. But with Robbie Brady only fit for the bench, coupled to Morrissey's early departure and Clifford not at his best, Ireland struggled to impose themselves on the Swiss.
Beaten 2-0 by Spain in their first game, Switzerland started much the better with some good footwork by Admir Mehmedi setting up Dino Rebronja to curl the first shot of the game just over the bar from 20 yards on 17 minutes.
There was another let-off for Ireland three minutes later when a clever flick by Alexandre Pasche put Mehmedi in on goal but, again, his well-struck shot was wide.
Switzerland remained the better side into the second half and David Frey volleyed over before they scored the winner on 49 minutes.
A foul by Towell on Pasche gave away a free-kick about 50 yards out. Steven Ukoh put the ball into the far post with plenty of pace on it and the unlucky Gunning, in attempting to clear, sliced it into his own net off his left foot.
"I'd like to see us finishing on a high against Spain and go home with a good taste in our mouths," added McCaffrey.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND:Hanley (Salthill Devon); Ormsby (Crumlin Utd), Connolly (Wolves), Joyce (Belvedere), Gunning (Blackburn Rovers); Clifford (Chelsea), Towell (Celtic), Morrissey (Ringmahon Rangers), Hourihane (Sunderland); Doran (Blackburn Rovers), Cunningham (Manchester City). Subs: Murphy (Ipswich Town) for Morrissey (8 mins), Brady (Manchester Utd) for Hourihane (61 mins), Satelle (Hull City) for Cunningham (78 mins).
SWITZERLAND:Borkovic; Rochat, Lang, Koch, Daprela; Frey, Ukoh, Xhaka, Pasche; Mehmedi, Rebronja. Subs: Durig for Rebronja (78 mins), Shaqiri for Pasche (80 mins).
Referee:Libor Kovarik (Czech Republic).
