Great to see.
The Republic of Ireland’s Under-15 team took on Spain on Thursday afternoon and cut their opponents apart with a brilliant goal on the counter-attack.
The Irish underage side are taking part in a tournament in Spain and managed to score a wonderful goal against the hosts.
"Our back four and holding players were excellent. I think all the players were, especially in our off-season."#IRLU15🇮🇪 Head Coach Jason Donohue was delighted with his side's performance today against Spain in @PinatarArena
➡️ https://t.co/ApTQjEo0ZT #COYBIG🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/J5t0hO4wEd
— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) January 30, 2019
Spain were on the ball just outside of the Irish penalty area, but ran into trouble and were dispossessed with a perfectly-timed slide tackle.
Ireland’s midfielders played a one-two before releasing Cian Kelly with an excellent through ball.
The Bohemians player held his nerve when through on goal and saw his strike get turned into the net by a Spain defender.
Spain equalised in the second half and went on to win the penalty shootout 4-1. However, Ireland coach Jason Donohue was rightly delighted with the performance of his team against such talented opposition.
“Our game plan worked well,” he told the FAI’s website.
“We played compactly in the first half, and deserved to go in at the break in the lead. Our back four and holding players were excellent. I think all the players were, especially in our off-season.”
Ireland will play the Netherlands and Hungary later in the week but showed with their goal against Spain that they have nothing to fear from their opponents.
It is encouraging to see young Irish players comfortably pass the ball and put together such a well-worked move.
You can watch the goal here:
⚽️ GOAL | Check out this fine goal from Cian Kelly for #IRLU15 against Spain #COYBIG pic.twitter.com/1pOqych5pD
— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) January 31, 2019
