Little quality as Irish concede sloppy goals

A game, said Ian Evans afterwards, which allowed him to have a look at some of his growing list of options before the scheduled resumption of the under-21 qualifying group matches next month. With nine players absent, though, and only one of the recently returned Under-20s called upon, it was difficult to gauge just how much the Ireland manager can have learned from this disappointing contest at Woodfield Park in Birr.

The result will probably not bother anybody in the Irish camp too much; Ireland's unbeaten record in the UEFA qualifiers compares favourably with Sweden's three defeats in four outings. But there will still surely be some disappointment with the way the home team performed in front of the two goals.

At the back, where Bradford's Andy O'Brien performed solidly - but rather pointedly declined to allow journalists to ask him whether his decision to play for Ireland rather than England would be confirmed when the next competitive game comes around - the goals conceded were sloppy. Up front the chances, through the last half hour at least, came thick and fast but nobody could stick them away. And throughout, admitted Evans, "We just lacked that bit of quality in our play, there wasn't the bit of magic that you need."

There was a little more than that missing through a first period during which, to be fair, the Swedes were comfortably on top. In a lacklustre match, it had taken them 24 minutes to get into the lead, but from virtually the opening seconds they had looked the more likely to score, and Derek O'Connor was pressed into action on several occasions before his opposite number saw anything of the ball.

When a misunderstanding between Colin Hawkins and O'Brien handed Patric Andersson a handy shooting opportunity just inside the left side of the box, however, there was little the former Huddersfield goalkeeper could have done.

Before Jonas Wallerstedt had tapped home a rebound in the 56th minute to make it 2-0, the Irish had a good chance to level things when Daryl Clare and Neale Fenn linked well to send Alan Mahon clean through towards the Swedish goalkeeper. Dime Jankulovski, though, was quick to spot the danger and quicker off his line to smother the Irishman's shot.

Given the amount of possession the Irish enjoyed over the closing half hour, Jankulovski really should have had a few more chances to show his worth. But some disappointing finishing by the locals, most pointedly Birr's Stephen Grant, who admitted he was baffled as to how he hadn't scored at least once, let the visitors off the hook.

In the end the Swedes added a third when Wellerstedt, having slipped the Irish central defenders, chipped O'Connor neatly as he came to narrow the angle.

Republic Of Ireland: O'Connor (Bradford Park Avenue); Worrell (Dundee Utd), O'Brien (Bradford City), Hawkins (St Patrick's Athletic), Barry Murphy (Cork City); Maybury (Reading), Morgan (St Patrick's), Mahon (Tranmere), McKeever (Sheffield Wednesday); Clare (Grimsby), Fenn (Lincoln City). Subs: Cummins (Middlesbrough) for Morgan (half-time), Lynch (UCD) for Hawkins (59 mins), Armstrong (Brighton) for McKeever (59 mins), Molloy (St Patrick's Athletic) for Fenn (60 mins), Grant (Stockport) for Clare (63 mins), Baker (Shelbourne) for Worrell (63 mins).

Sweden: Jankulovski; C Andersson, O Persson, Arvhage, Edman; Johansson, Vaapil, Linderoth, Enqvist; Berglund, P Andersson. Subs: C Persson for Johansson and Wallerstedt for Berglund (half-time), Kronvall for C Andersson and Bjurstrom for Vaapil (68 mins), Nicklasson for Enqvist (75 mins), Referee: A Snoddy (Northern Ireland).