- Dave Donnelly
- Thu, May 04 2017
The Republic of Ireland's route to the knock-out stages of the 2017 under-17 European Championships has become more difficult after they lost their opening game 1-0 to Serbia in Kostrena.
Midfielder Zeljko Gavric scored the only goal of the game eight minutes from time as he stole a run on Shamrock Rovers' Aaron Bolger from a corner and planted a glancing header into the top corner.
It was rough justice for Colin O'Brien's side, who seemed to have turned the game in their favour after the break following the introduction of Brighton & Hove Albion's Aaron Connolly at the break.
Played in sweltering heat in the Croatian seaport town of Kostrena, the Boys in Green were always likely to suffer under the conditions and found it difficult to amass any sustained possession during a closely-matched first 40 minutes.
A clumsy foul from Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Callum Thompson handed Serbia the first opportunity and St Patrick's Athletic goalkeeper Brian Maher pulled off a smart save from Gavric's set piece attempt.
While the Serbs looked comfortable in possession, Ireland sought to go long to College Corinthians striker Adam Idah, who used his pace and power to trouble centre-halves Marko Jankovic and Jovan Pavlovic.
He might have done better after nine minutes when a long latched onto a ball over the top and outpaced Pavlovic, but his first touch was poor and his subsequent scuffed effort didn't trouble Milos Gordic between the sticks.
A furious strike from Milutin Vidosavljevic flew just over the bar with Maher beaten and had many inside the stadium, including those operating the PA system, convinced it had gone in as celebratory music began to play.
Thompson was next to go close for Ireland as he caught the Serbian defender in possession high up the pitch and continued into the box, but he lost his footing at the vital moment and, while his shot beat the keeper, Aleksandar Kostic got across to mop up.
Blackpool striker Rowan Roache forced an excellent stop from Gordic with a free kick from the edge of the box, the Serbian keeper tipping his dipping shot over the bar.
Vidosavljevic almost gave Serbia the lead five minutes before the break as he slid in an attempt to poke home Gavric's ball across goal, but he took to the ground awkwardly and appeared to twist his ankle while the ball rolled wide – a let off for Ireland.
Connolly – who scored four goals in elite qualifying but wasn't fit enough to start – replaced the ineffective Gavin Kilkenny at half time and he immediately began to have an influence from the left flank.
His skill and direct running caused no end of problems for right-back Kostic, who had to resort to fouling the Brighton man on several occasions.
One such example saw Connolly turn Kostic on the endline and cut across the full back. He was fouled by the covering defender but, remarkably, the Greek referee Anastosios Papapetrou waved play on.
Unbowed, Connolly continue to looked Ireland's most likely creative outlet and, after a Serbian move broke down just behind halfway, he looked to pick Roache out with a first-time pass the Blackpool man should have taken clear on goal.
With 14 minutes remaining, Connolly thought he'd finally got the goal his play deserved when Serbia failed to fully clear a cross and he hit a powerful shot that swerved away from the keeper an cracked the outside of the post.
It was the closest either side had come to scoring and Ireland looked by far the more likely to break that deadlock, however a series of unforced errors proved their undoing.
First, Maher picked up a backpass inside his own box and, upon prompting from the Serbian players, the referee awarded an indirect free kick, which the Ireland wall did well to put behind.
From the resulting corner, however, Bolger lost the run of Gavric, who glanced his header past a helpless Maher and hand the Serbians the lead against the run of play.
Ireland lost Idah to cramp in the dying moments as they scrambled to rescue the game but, apart from a pair of Roache free kicks that failed to beat the first man, they looked short on ideas.
Serbia could have made sure in the fourth minute of injury time as they broke in numbers and Dimitrije Kamenovic waltzed through on goal, but he was ponderous and Nathan Collins got back to avert the danger.
It was to prove moot, however, as Serbia finished the game on the front foot to join Germany on three points at the top of Group C, while Ireland will almost certainly need to win their two remaining games against Bosnia & Herzegovina and Germany to stand any chance of progressing.
Republic of Ireland: Brian Maher; Luke Nolan, Nathan Collins, Jordan Doherty, Kameron Ledwidge; Gavin Kilkenny (Aaron Connolly 41), Aaron Bolger, Richie O'Farrell, Callum Thompson (Tyriek Wright 64); Rowan Roache, Adam Idah (Brandon Kavanagh 78).
Subs not used: Kian Clarke (gk), Lee O'Connor, Joe Redmond, Darryl Walsh.
Booked: Jordan Doherty (31), Kameron Ledwidge 46).
Serbia: Milos Gordic; Aleksandar Kostic, Marko Jankovic, Jovan Pavlovic, Dimitrije Kamenovic; Ivan Ilic, Zaljko Gavric, Armin Djerlek (Mateja Zuvic 70), Mihajlo Neskovic (Jovan Kokir 60), Milutin Vidosavljevic (Slobodan Tedic 37); Filip Stuparevic.
Subs not used: Aleksa Milojevic (gk), Svetozar Markovic, Zlatan Sehovic, Vanja Zvekanov.
Booked: Ivan Ilic (40+1), Mateja Zuvic (70).
Referee: Anastosios Papapetrou.
Attendance: TBC
Extratime.ie Player of the Match: Ivan Ilic (Serbia).
