Billy O'Neill scored twice in a 3-1 win for Ireland MU15 SPORTSFILE
Republic of Ireland Mens Under-15s made it back-to-back wins against Wales in Bray thanks to two goals from Billy O’Neill and a first Ireland goal from Goodness Ogbonna in a 3-1 win.
All of Ireland’s goals were scored in the first half with O’Neill, a Bray Wanderers academy prospect, netting on his home ground twice in the first half. Ogbonna wrapped up the scoring for Ireland with a nicely taken finish just after half-an-hour. Wales pulled one back through Tomos Lloyd in the second half but it couldn’t prevent the MU15s recording their fourth win in a row.
Head Coach Jason Donohue made seven changes to the starting XI that won 4-0 on Wednesday. Ramon Martos was handed the captaincy and O’Neill was rewarded for his goal in the previous meeting with a place in attack.
The first chance of the game came on the quarter-hour mark. Martos got clear of his marker and cut the ball back for Ogbonna, who was making a late run into the box, and the Shamrock Rovers forward had time to pick his spot but placed his effort just wide.
In the 17th minute it was 1-0 to Ireland. A harmless ball into the box wasn’t cleared by Welsh defender Tomos Lloyd, Costello intercepted the ball and tucked the ball back for O’Neill to score an easy goal.
Five minutes later the Seagulls man scored his second. A strike by Ogbonna was spilled by goalkeeper Oliver Lloyd and O’Neill was on hand to turn the ball in for 2-0.
Ireland had the ball in the net in the 27th minute when Max Kovalevskis reacted fastest to a great save by Lloyd but the assistant referee ruled the goal as offside.
By the 32nd minute Ireland were 3-0 up and it was a beautiful goal from Ogbonna. The forward raced through on goal, rounded the goalkeeper and tucked the ball home for his first international goal.
In the second half O’Neill had a great chance for a hat-trick. Substitute goalkeeper Isaac Dudding made a great save from Ogbonna and the loose ball fell to O’Neill to fire home but Wales were able to clear off the line.
Wales struck back in the 52nd minute when Tomos Lloyd turned home a delivery from a corner beyond goalkeeper Ali Topcu.
Speaking after the game Ireland Men’s Under-15s Head Coach Jason Donohue said: “We had some defensive improvement goals and we implemented them throughout training during the week. We carried them out in the first game and the four goals were an added bonus. Then today we put in the level of performance that in the first half was as good a performance as I’ve seen in a long time.
“I’m delighted with how the week has gone. There is still an opportunity to make changes because it’s important to keep the pool of players quite broad and identify players who can progress through the ranks as they get older.
“Billy O’Neill is a great example. He wasn’t in earlier squads during the season, he was in our development squad and Billy did well, he got promoted from that group and has come on to score three international goals on his home ground.
“Overall it was two impressive performances against Wales, which is very pleasing, and I must thank Bray Wanderers and Greystones United AFC for hosting us this week.”
International Friendly Result/Fixtures
Republic of Ireland: Topcu (Nonna, 71), Steward (Steward, 65), McGrath, McDonagh (Solanke, 41), Sherlock, Costello, Oladiti (Finneran 41), Martos (O’Donnell, 48), Kovalevskis (Umeh, 41), Ogbonna, O’Neill (Lee, 48)
Wales: O. Lloyd, Hillier, Pugh, Dearden, Gardner (C), Neil, Street, Cisse, Lienou, T. Lloyd, Jones. Substitutes: Dudding, Thomas, Rhodes, Allmark, Evans, Abbott, Bradbury, Valentine, Grainger.
International Friendly Results/Fixture
Wednesday, March 1 | Ireland MU15 4-0 Wales MU15
Friday, March 3 | Ireland MU15 3-1 Wales MU15
Tuesday, March 21 | Ireland MU15 v Latvia MU15, Home Farm FC, Whitehall, Dublin, 1pm
Thursday, March 23 | Ireland MU15 v Latvia MU15, Home Farm FC, Whitehall, Dublin 1pm
