Ireland U19s suffer German loss in final Qualifying Round tie

Ireland 0-4 Germany

THE Republic of Ireland U19 side suffered a disappointing 4-0 loss to Germany in their final group game in the UEFA Qualifying Round in Durres, Albania, this afternoon.

Both sides had already secured their progress to the Elite Phase after wins over mini-tournament hosts Albania and Gibraltar earlier in the week but the Germans will now top the group with Ireland as runners-up.

Tom Mohan's side were left frustrated as they conceded two penalties and had midfielder Jake Doyle-Hayes sent-off in the 59th minute.

Irish keeper Caoimhin Kelleher was forced into the game's first save of note when he denied Salih Özcan in the 15th minute and Josh Barrett had an effort on goal saved by German keeper Markus Schubert less than a minute later.

The Germans took the lead in the 24th minute after Barrett was penalised for a push on a German attacker in the penalty area and Niklas Schmidt stepped up to convert the spot-kick.

Declan Rice and Zach Elbouzedi had chances blocked for Ireland as the first half wore on before Conor Levingston was denied an equaliser by Schubert in first half injury-time.

A pivotal moment came early in the first half when Elbouzedi was adjudged to have run the ball out of play just before cutting inside a defender and firing to the German net. To compound matters Schmidt extended Germany's lead from a free-kick in the 52nd minute that was a cross which went all the way to the Irish net.

Things turned badly for the Irish when they conceded another penalty in the 55th minute after a challenge by Declan Rice on Dennis Geiger and Schmidt fired home from the penalty spot to complete his hat-trick.

Ireland's hopes were further hit when Doyle-Hayes was dismissed after a foul on Schmidt. Jonas Busam completed the scoring in the 65th minute when he tapped in from close range.

Despite the disappointment of the defeat the Irish will now look forward to the Elite Phase which will take place next Spring. The draw will be made for the Elite Phase in December.

"Of course it's disappointing to lose a game like that but honestly I felt that in the first half we were very good and were arguably the better side for much of it. We created five or six chances and didn't take them unfortunately," said Mohan. 

"We'd a goal disallowed early in the second half and I would consider that to be the turning point. From there we had a ten minute period where some of the players lost their composure and it was damage limitation after that. We'd carried out the game plan very well up until half-time.

"We have to pick ourselves up and learn from this. We wanted to put it up to the Germans and we did that but we can't let today's result spoil an excellent week. There was great work by the players and staff. We're disappointed but it would have been a lot more sore if we'd been eliminated. We achieved our objective this week which was to reach the Elite Phase."

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Kelleher, O'Keeffe, Masterson, Rice, Levingston, Elbouzedi (Clarke 81), Doyle-Hayes, Ronan, Barrett (Kinsella 63), Molumby, Leahy.

GERMANY: Schubert, Busam, Franke, Gül, Burnic, Geiger (Köhlert 89) , Passlack (Shipnoski 74), Schmidt, Eggestein (Stark 74), Özcan, Baku.

RESULTS 

UEFA U19 Championships Qualifying Round Group Four

Thursday, October 6

Albania 0-1 Republic of Ireland, Selman Stermazi, Tirana (ALB)

Germany 5-0 Gibraltar, Niko Dovana, Durres (ALB)

Saturday, October 8 

Republic of Ireland 5-0 Gibraltar, Niko Dovana, Durres (ALB)

Germany 3-2 Albania, Selman Stermazi, Tirana (ALB) 

Tuesday, October 11

Republic of Ireland 0-4 Germany, Niko Dovana, Durres (ALB)

Gibraltar 0-1 Albania, Selman Stermazi, Tirana (ALB)