EUROPEAN UNDER-21 CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFYING Turkey 1 Rep of Ireland 0:WIM KOEVERMANS'S side could not end their disappointing qualifying campaign with a win as the Republic of Ireland were condemned to the wooden spoon.
Stand-in boss Koevermans went into the game having lost an entire team to injury and suspension, and his side reflected those difficulties with five of the starters and six of the substitutes still eligible to turn out for the under-19s.
Ireland created several openings before the break, but once again were unable to convert them with Adam Rooney and Graham Carey missing the target.
Conor Hourihane went within inches of breaking the deadlock just after the hour mark when his shot came back off the post.
The visitors piled on the pressure and Rooney and Hourihane both went close as the game approached its closing stages.
Turkey scored the decisive goal nine minutes from time when Tevfik Kose was picked out 12 yards from goal, and he shot past the despairing Stephen Henderson to claim victory.
Séamus Coleman might have snatched a draw at the death, but his header from a corner was scrambled away.
TURKEY: Karabulut, Kurtulus (Boz, 72 mins), Cek, Kesimal, Basdas, Tekdemir, Uysal, Kaplan (Gurler, 66 mins), Colak (Arslan 46, mins), Kose, Aygunes. Subs not used: Ozbir, Eylik, Kaldirim, Calik. Booked: Aygunes.
REP OF IRELAND: Henderson, Coleman, Towell, Moloney, Kiernan (McEleney, 58 mins), Connelly, Carey, Hourihane, Clifford (Mason, 79 mins), Rooney, Brady (Kearns, 35 mins). Subs not used: Redmond, Sheppard, Madden. Booked: Coleman, Kearns.
Referee: A Stavrev(FYR Macedonia).
