REPUBLIC OF IRELAND 0/1 ENGLAND
England struck late to grab the win which denied defending champions Republic of Ireland the title at the Waterford RSC reports John Fallon:
The visitors’ main attacking threat came through Taylor Morgan and the Irish knew they would have their work cut out to contain the tall forward from the 2nd minute when he embarked on a dribble down the left channel:
He picked out the onrushing James Ellis with the cut/back but Ireland defender Ian Storan got across brilliantly to block the midfielder’s shot:
The Irish then enjoyed a spell of pressure resulting in three chances in the space of three minutes:
Shane Howard went close with a header which went over on four minutes, which was swiftly followed by Garvan Broughall’s snapshot from ten yards that narrowly cleared the bar: Paul Corry then tested the England goalkeeper with a curling free/kick on ten minutes and the netminder showed his reflexes to get across and turn the attempt around the post:
Directly from the resulting corner, England broke away through the speedy Morgan: The striker raced past two defenders but instead of laying the ball into the path of the unmarked Danny Watson, he opted to shoot and Man of the Match Ger Hanley got down low to save:
Ireland finished the half strongly and Corry was once more causing problems: A mazy dribble brought the midfielder inside the box and, though his shot beat the goalkeeper, Robert Carter scampered back to clear the ball off the line:
Substitute Robbie Benson had Ireland’s first opportunity of the second half and rued his own finishing when he blazed wide from close/range after his initial effort following a corner rebounded into his path:
England took the lead against the run of play with 15 minutes remaining through a hotly/contested goal: Irish goalkeeper Ger Hanley dashed from his line to gather a high ball but was impeded by an opponent, allowing Jacob Baptista to head into an empty net:
Ireland went with three at the back for their final ten minutes and the English exploited the space to give Taylor a pot at goal from the edge of the area which Hanley stooped low to tip away for a corner:
The win for England tonight means that they share the title with Northern Ireland as Carnegie Centenary Shield Champions for 2009:
Republic of Ireland: Ger Hanley; Neil Harney, Andrew Boyle (Jason Dwane 63), Tomas Boyle, Ian Storan (Carl Forsyth 78); James Keohane (Robbie Benson h/t), Garvan Broughall (Brian Gaffney 57 mins), Jason Hughes, Paul Corry, Gary Burke; Shane Howard
Subs not used: Aaron McCarey, Danny Fallon, Cillian Morrison:
England:Tom Pass; Robert Carter, Jamie Libby, Joe Clayton, Matthew Tasker (Matthew Whitehead 59); David Wheeler, Simon Johnston, Jacob Baptista, James Ellis (James Norwood, h/t), Danny Watson (David Knight 59); Taylor Morgan:
Subs not used: Steven Norris, Nick Hancock, Michael Scott:
Referee: Graham Kelly (Cork):
Attendance: 1375:
Photographs courtesy of Sean Dempsey 087 263 8851
Please click on the gallery section for images of the game: