Republic of Ireland 13 Gibraltar 0
Thirteen proved the lucky number for Tom Mohan’s Ireland under-19 side in Austria on Saturday as they enjoyed a goal glut against Gibraltar in the first qualifying round of the Under-19 European Championship.
Aston Villa's Tyreik Wright hit four as Ireland cruised to victory in Straßwalchen and there were also first international goals for Lewis Richards, Jamie Bowden, Tom Cannon and Ryan Cassidy. Andrew Omobamidele, Mark McGuinness and Ross Tierney also found the net.
It now means Ireland head into the game with hosts Austria in Salzburg on Tuesday needing a win for a chance to qualify for the Elite Round.
Ireland were dominant from start to finish and took the lead on six minutes through Wright after he slid in to finish after Alex Gilbert fired at goal.
On 15 minutes Richards had his first goal for Ireland when a corner from Bowden fell to the Wolves defenderwho volleyed home from close range.
And it was another Bowden corner that led to number three when Omobamidele found the net with a header. Two minutes later Bowden went from creator to scorer after good play from Wright saw him cross from the right towards Gilbert who headed across goal for Bowden to tap in for 4-0.
Ireland started the second half as they started the first as Wright reacted fastest to a save from Bradley Avellano to make it 5-0 with 47 minutes gone.
On 54 minutes Wright completed his hat-trick, superbly finding the top corner from the edge of the area.
Ireland weren’t letting up and McGuinness headed in from a corner on 55 minutes for the seventh goal and Tierney took advantage of a rebound for number eight. Cannon made it 9-0 with a neat finish when he found the bottom corner from outside the box.
Bowden got his second of the game to make it 10 on 73 minutes when he headed into the top corner.
Then came three goals in the final 10 minutes of the game. The first came from another corner with McGuinness’s header adjudged to have come off Gibraltar substitute Shay Jones for an own goal.
Wright got his fourth of the game when he beat the goalkeeper from the edge of the area and Cassidy made it 13-0 in added time when he got ahead of the last defender in the box to wrap up the scoring.
IRELAND: Bohan; McEntee (capt) (McGuinness, 46 mins) Omobamidele, Richards, Sobowale; Coffey (Cassidy, 68 mins), Bowden (Ebosele, 90 mins), Tierney; Wright, Cannon (Oko-Flex), Gilbert.
GIBRALTAR: Avellano (Hernandez, 79 mins); Bossano (Galliano, 74 mins), Vinet, Montovio (Matto, 64 mins); Parral, El Yettefi (De Haro 30), Del Rio (capt), Bautista (Jones, 31 mins), Ramagge, Gracia.
