THE Republic of Ireland under-18 side were more than a match for tournament favourites Italy in their opening game of the European Championship in Luxembourg last night.
The Italians were given due warning of Ireland's no-nonsense approach when Des Baker scored after three minutes only for it to be ruled out by the referee. This preceded what turned out to be an ongoing confrontation between the brilliant Irish goalkeeper Derek O'Connor and by far Italy's sharpest forward, Tarrantino, which began after five minutes.
O'Connor saved from the young Italian and minutes later Baker took full advantage of the hard work of Lee Boylan and Simon Webb to crack a shot to the net off the upright to give Ireland a 1-0 lead at half-time.
Ventola, the Italian captain, equalised early in the second half when he took advantage of a defensive mix-up to equalise.
Baker was taken off with a suspected torn muscle that could keep him out of the rest of the tournament.
Liam Brady has been linked with a return to Highbury to take up a lucrative new post. Brady is believed to be top of the short list as head of Arsenal's youth development programme.
The 40-year-old former Republic of Ireland player, whose 23-month spell as Brighton manager ended last November by mutual consent, is leading a consortium which is trying to take control of the south coast club. But he is currently considering his options on a family holiday in France.
