A bumpy pitch and the heat contributed to Ireland's frustration as they had to settle for a draw against Turkey in the second match of the under-17 invitational tournament in Israel yesterday.
With injuries ruling out both Shaun Byrne and Brendan McGill, manager Brian Kerr was able to field just four of the team that won the UEFA under-16 title in Scotland in May.
Ireland, with Liam Miller and Gary Dempsey superb in midfield, nonetheless dominated for long spells only to gift the Turks a point with the concession of two soft goals.
The match appeared destined to go against the Irish once Turkey snatched the lead after 15 minutes. The uneven surface was a key factor as defender Jim Goodwin could only slice a Turkish free-kick past debutante goalkeeper Daniel Connor and into his own net.
However, Ireland remained the better side and were well worth their equaliser on 23 minutes when skipper Gary Dempsey headed home from a Paul Forsyth corner.
David McMahon then gave Ireland a deserved lead six minutes into the second-half when he also scored with a crisp header after a great run and cross up the right by Dave Warren.
Dessie Byrne might have increased Ireland's lead nine minutes later but headed just over the top from another Forsyth corner.
Another defensive error, however, let Turkey in to level the scores on 64 minutes. Brian McCrystal, partnering Goodwin in central defence, mis-kicked as he attempted to clear and Yavuz Balci reacted well to drill the ball low past Connor from just inside the area.
Ireland continued to dominate and Thomas Butler brought two great saves in quick succession from Turkish goalkeeper Tamer Goskun.
Turkey then almost snatched a scarcely deserved winner on 78 minutes, but Connor made an excellent save.
McMahon might then have won it for Ireland deep into injury-time when he burst through on a powerful run only to shoot tamely at Goskun.
"We did quite well considering we had only four of the team from Scotland," said a relatively pleased Kerr afterwards. "We conceded a soft equaliser against the run of play, while losing both Shaun Byrne and Brendan McGill was a blow as we certainly could have done with them in the heat."
Hosts Israel, whom Ireland meet in their third game today, drew 2-2 with Belgium while Hungary and Yugoslavia played out a scoreless draw in yesterday's other games.
Republic Of Ireland: Connor (Peterborough United); Thompson (Nottingham Forest), Goodwin (Celtic), McCrystal (Leeds United), Byrne (Stockport County); Warren (Mayfield United), Miller (Celtic), Dempsey (Everton), Butler (Sunderland); Forsyth (Blackburn Rovers), McMahon (Newcastle United). Subs: Sullivan (Celtic) for Warren (62 mins), Lawless (Blackburn Rovers) for Forsyth (70 mins).
1 1 0 8 3 4 REP OF IRELAND - 2 1 1 0 5 3 4 Yugoslavia - 2 1 1 0 2 1 4 Turkey - 2 0 1 1 3 4 1 Belgium - 2 0 1 1 3 5 1 Hungary - 2 0 1 1 1 6 1
South Africa went on the attack today after officially entering the race to stage the 2006 World Cup.
"We have more than enough world-class stadia for the event and superb road, rail and air links," World Cup bid committee chief executive Danny Jordaan claimed in Johannesburg.
England, Germany, Brazil, Egypt, Ghana, and Morocco are the other contenders and a spokesman for FIFA said no more candidates were expected before the December 31st deadline.
Jordaan dismissed claims from some rivals that a high crime rate makes the country unfit to host the showpiece.
