Rep of Ireland 2 Greece 1:REPUBLIC OF Ireland Under-19s last night withstood some extremely testing weather conditions to kick off their European Championship finals campaign in Romania with a win.
Defender Anthony O’Connor picked the perfect time to break his scoring duck by getting a brace against Greece, but manager Paul Doolin insisted it took a great deal of concentration to overcome what he described as “crazy weather”.
Much attention in the lead-up to the game focused on the prospects of Ireland dealing with the hot conditions prevalent since their arrival into Bucharest on Sunday.
Instead, weather of the inclement variety an hour before the start put the game in serious doubt.
A freak outbreak of thunder and lightning on the outskirts of the city resulted in the earlier game between Spain and Belgium in Group B being abandoned 20 minutes in. As Ireland’s fixture was being played less than four miles away, the heavy rain caused Polish referee Pawel Gill to delay confirming the match going ahead until five minutes before kick-off.
Doolin had one major selection dilemma to contend with before kick-off after Joe Shaughnessy made a strong case for inclusion at centre-back following his goalscoring competitive debut in the last outing, the 3-0 win over Italy.
The 48-year-old opted, though, to restore Anthony O’Connor, who had missed that qualifier because of suspension, alongside his fellow Corkman John Egan.
Blackburn Rovers man O’Connor showed there was more to his game than solidity in defence as he popped up to fire Ireland ahead with just two minutes on the clock.
Seán Murray forced a corner on the right, from which the Watford winger found O’Connor unmarked 10 yards out to volley home.
Greece had plenty of flair in their attack, exemplified by their 2-1 win over holders France in their qualifying phase, and needed a mere three minutes to equalise.
Nikos Karelis was afforded too much space on the right to deliver a cross, and when Aaron McCarey slipped in punching the ball clear, Giorgis Katidis seized the chance to rattle the net with a low drive. It was the first goal conceded by the Irish in 291 minutes of play.
Doolin’s emphasis on set-pieces worked again for their second goal from another corner from the right six minutes after the restart.
Murray went short by feeding Samir Carruthers and his instant cross to the back post was headed powerfully home from six yards by O’Connor.
The fluency with which Greece operated in the final third during the opening 45 minutes was replaced by a more direct approach thereafter. It was a one-handed save by McCarey from Katidis’ header five minutes from time that proved most critical in securing Ireland a valuable win.
REP OF IRELAND: McCarey (Wolves); Doherty (Wolves), Egan (Sunderland), O’Connor (Blackburn), Williams (Aston Villa); Carruthers (Aston Villa), O’Sullivan (Blackburn), Hendrick (Derby), Wearen (West Ham), Forde (Wolves); Murphy (Bray Wanderers). Subs: Smith (Watford) for Murphy (77), Shaughnessy (Aberdeen) for Williams (80), Ferdinand (Southend) for O’Sullivan (85).
GREECE: Kapino; Stafylidis, Lagos, Potouridis, Mavrias; Karelis, Marinakis, Rougalas, Fortounis; Diamantakos, Katidis. Subs: Kotsaridis for Diamantakos (46), Bakaesetas for Karelis (54), Kolovos for Marinakis (70).
Referee: P Gill (Poland).
