Soccer

McCaffrey's boys leave it late in Malta

UNDER-19 UEFA CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIER/Malta 0 Republic of Ireland 2: Sean McCaffrey's side left it late to clinch victory as …

Fri Nov 21 2008 - 00:00

UNDER-19 UEFA CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIER/Malta 0 Republic of Ireland 2:Sean McCaffrey's side left it late to clinch victory as two goals in the last ten minutes saw off the hosts in their opening UEFA Championship qualifier in the Ta'Qali Stadium today.

Sunderland defender Niall McArdle opened the scoring after 80 minutes before Ipswich Town midfielder Paul Murphy sealed the win with a magnificent strike from 25 yards out with two minutes remaining.

Crystal Palace goalkeeper Kieron Thorp put in a fine 90 minutes, making a string of saves to keep the Maltese at bay.

McCaffrey was delighted with his side's performance in a tough opening game.

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"This game was always going to be the most vital in this group for a number of reasons. We are obviously up against the host nation on a synthetic pitch, it is never easy to adjust to this type of surface with just a small number of training sessions.

"Overall, the attitude among the whole team was superb, they came out in the second half and dominated from start to finish and with the game scoreless in the final quarter, and they never panicked and took their chances when they came.

"We will now look ahead to the next game against Liechtenstein (on Sunday) where we will be looking to pick up maximum points heading into the France game next week," added McCaffrey.

McCaffrey will have to access a number of players who suffered slight injuries in the game. "We do have a slight worry about Gavin Gunning, Conor Clifford, Lanre Oyebanjoe and Ian Daly who all picked up small knocks in the tough, physical encounter but we are not overly concerned about it and we will access the players straight after the game," said McCaffrey.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND:Kieron Thorp (Crystal Palace), Lanre Oyebanjo (Histon), Gavin Gunning (Blackburn Rovers), Danny Kelly (Norwich City), Niall McArdle (Sunderland), Conor Clifford Chelsea), Jamie Devitt (Hull City), Gearoid Morrissey (Blackburn Rovers), Ian Daly (Manchester City), Damien McCrory (Plymouth Argyle), Paul Murphy (Ipswich Town). Substitutes: Aaron Doran (Blackburn Rovers) for McRory 67, Paddy Madden (Bohemians) for Devitt 82, Richie Towell (Celtic) for Oyebanjo 89.