Under 16's: France 1 Ireland 1

They remain unbeaten in the four-team tournament after drawing with Portugal in their opening match. Now they have a possibility of winning the tournament outright when they play Norway on Saturday.

Ireland were lucky, however, to survive against the French who dominated for long spells in the game and took the lead on 29 minutes.

The Irish battled throughout the game for possession and they had goalkeeper Kieron Thorpe to thank for keeping them in the game with a string of top-class saves from a lively French forward line.

Ireland refused to accept concede in what was a very difficult match, so good were the French. Ireland were sustained by the contributions of Conor McCormack and James O’ Brien who battled for every ball in the middle, while Ian Daly and Craig Duggan ran themselves in to the ground with their tireless work rate.

The Irish were rewarded for their efforts in the 77th minute when a mistake in the French defence allowed Ian Daly through to score.

He broke clear of the defence outside the area and, faced with one-on-one challenge from the goalkeeper, he showed great composure as he made no mistake with a clinical finish.

The trend of the game was reflected in the fact that the Republic of Ireland made only two scoring opportunities throughout, compared to the French, who failed to capitalise on a countless number of chances.

The Irish youngsters deserve full credit for their spirited resistance and Manager, Vincent Butler said after the game: “There are days when you come off the field having played well enough to secure a win and you don’t; there are days like this where you are under pressure for most of the game and take something from it.

“The lads deserved the draw as they never stopped running for the 80 minutes and it leaves us looking forward to the final match on Saturday”.

The Republic of Ireland play Norway on Saturday at 13.00 hrs (local time) while France play Portugal at 15.00 (local time).

Ireland will win the tournament if they beat Norway by two goals and the match between France and Portugal ends without a goal.

Republic of Ireland

Kieron Thorpe

Mark Nolan

Paul Honohan

David Joyce

Conor McCormack

James O’ Brien[Capt]

Ian Daly

Craig Duggan

Gary Frewen

Niall Mc Ardle

James Doyle

Subs Used

Dean Marshall for Frewen, 51Mins

Michael Collins for Doyle, 70Mins