REPORT | Croatia MU18 0-0 Republic of Ireland MU18
A win, a loss and a draw was what the Republic of Ireland Men's Under-18s experienced in Poreč, Croatia as part of a mini tournament.
Head Coach Colin O'Brien was able to give valuable game-time to his players in games against Sweden, Denmark and the hosts in a camp that will stand to them moving forward.
For the final game, against Croatia on Monday morning, it was a tense encounter with a couple of half chances on goal but nothing that really troubled either goalkeeper.
On 32 minutes, that changed when Fintan Doherty was at his athletic best to push away a shot and divert it out for a corner kick. That was the best chance of the first half.
After the break, it was Croatia who threatened with a couple of free-kicks but the Irish defence stood firm and Doherty was on full alert.
A number of changes gave Ireland some new energy and substitute Justin Ferizaj forced a save from Croatian goalkeeper Borna Buljan following an excellent breakaway.
Midfielder James McManus tried the same trick on 88 minutes but Buljan was equal to it and added further frustration for the Irish players as they finished the game strongly.
Overall, O'Brien and his staff will be pleased with the three performances registered by his squad in this mini tournament and will take a lot of positives from them.
Croatia: Borna Buljan; Roko Perkovic, Filip Markanovic, Ivan Cvetko; Ivan Canjuga, Marin Zgomba, Marin Prekodravac, Fran Kobetic; Lovro Nezirovic, Nino Majdov, Luka Curkovic.
Republic of Ireland: Fintan Doherty; Sam Curtis, Cathal Heffernan, Gavin Hodgins (Gideon Tetteh 56), Luke O'Brien; James McManus, Liam McAlinney; Christy Grogan (Justin Ferizaj 56), Glenn McConnell (Joseph Gibbard 56), Freddie Turley (Kevin Zefi 56); Stephen Mohan (Franco Umeh 46).
Referee: Toni Zrno (Croatia).
Results
Tuesday, November 15 | Republic of Ireland MU18 3-1 Sweden MU18
Friday, November 18 | Republic of Ireland MU18 3-5 Denmark MU18
Monday, November 21 | Croatia MU18 0-0 Republic of Ireland MU18
