Sport

No reward for Irish

Another impressive display by Ireland didn't get its tangible reward as they once again marginally outplayed Germany in the second…

By PAUL BUTTNER
Fri Oct 01 1999 - 01:00

Another impressive display by Ireland didn't get its tangible reward as they once again marginally outplayed Germany in the second of their friendly games at Richmond Park last night.

Irish manager Brian Kerr made nine changes from the side that beat the Germans 2-1 at Buckley Park on Tuesday night, reverting to his favoured 4-3-3 line-up.

Gary Dempsey was impressive in midfield and his willingness to go past opponents a crucial element in another tactically astute Irish display.

Dempsey twice got forward before captain Shaun Byrne forced an excellent save from German goalkeeper Stefan Loboue after 16 minutes.

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Graham Barrett stung the fingers of Loboue again on the halfhour before Andy Reid cut across from the left to head inches over from Barrett's cross minutes later.

But it was far from one-way traffic and Christian Muller and Benjamin Auer tested debutant Gerry Doherty, on the second occasion after a bad mistake by Jonathan Douglas, with Irish left back Keith Foy then having to save the blushes of his goalkeeper by clearing his misdirected punch off the line from Mustafa Yarayan's corner minutes before the break.

The second half was tighter with the Germans forcing the early pressure. Ireland had a let-off on the hour when Sebastian Schachter set up Benjamin Lauth who blazed his shot over the top.

Republic Of Ireland (4-3-3): Doherty (Derby County); Douglas (Blackburn Rovers), Thompson (Nottingham Forest), O'Callaghan (Barnsley), Foy (Nottingham Forest); Dempsey (Everton), Mattis (Huddersfield Town), S. Byrne (West Ham United); Barrett (Arsenal), McMahon (Newcastle United), Reid (Nottingham Forest). Subs: Miller (Celtic) and Warren (Wrexham) for Mattis and Reid (both 62 mins), Burgess (Blackburn Rovers) for McMahon (73 mins).

Germany (3-4-3): Laboue; Zepek, Stark, Klimeik; Marx, Yarayan, Schachter, Mikolajczak; Lauth, Auer, Muller. Subs: Lechner, Weitner and Schmedes for Yarayan, Zepek and Auer (all at half-time), Jungnickel for Muller (73 mins), Fickert for Schachter (83 mins).

Referee: J McDermott (Dublin).