Kilbane saves the day

Kevin Kilbane's stoppage-time penalty saved the day for the Republic of Ireland's under-21s after they had two men sent off in the first 50 minutes of an ill-tempered match yesterday.

Two minutes of injury time had elapsed when Belgian referee Luc Huyghe pointed to the spot after Yugoslavia's Vladimir Matijesevic appeared to handle a cross from Alan Lee.

The crowd, maintaining hostile relations to the last, bayed at Kilbane, but the young West Bromwich Albion player kept his head and directed the penalty low into the corner of the net.

It was an unlikely ending after the Irish had responded angrily to some physical football from their hosts.

Millwall's Robbie Ryan and Middlesborough's Steve Baker both received their marching orders, leaving their manager Ian Evans furious and only nine of their team-mates to battle on from the 50th minute. It was a daunting task as the Yugoslavs clung tenaciously to the 1-0 lead which they had held from the sixth minute when a curling free-kick from Partizan Belgrade star Vladimir Ivic rattled into the Irish net.

But Evans's team survived all the spite and intimidation their hosts threw at them through a mixture of luck, brilliant goal-keeping and last-ditch defending. Baker's red card, for a crude hack at defender Milnojo Vitakic, was ironic given Vitakic had been booked just four minutes earlier for fouling striker Lee.

Ryan had already gone off 13 minutes before the interval for a second bookable offence on Ivan Vokomanovic - but neither offence looked as bad as a subsequent one by Henad Dzodic which took out Baker in full flow.

Three Irish players have now been sent off in their last three games. The Irish looked doomed after Ivic's score, particularly after Brentford full back Danny Boxall and Cork centre half Derek Coughlan were carried off. But West Ham reserve goalkeeper Alex O'Reilly produced a brilliant save to deny a close-range strike from Sasa Ilic and the Yugoslavs failed to put away a series of other chances including one when O'Reilly was beaten by Mateja Kezman's shot but saw the ball come back off the post.

Afterwards under-21 manager Evans voiced his anger at his side's red cards. "We are getting into a bad habit of losing players to red cards," said Evans.

"You can't plan your strategy for that kind of thing happening, especially when it is two players who go off.

"We got away with it in the end with a penalty, but if it had happened to us I wouldn't have been very happy.

"The sooner we can get through a match with all 11 players still on the pitch the better."

Evans had little sympathy for Baker or Ryan. Ryan's dismissal looked harsh, but Evans said: "His second tackle was just the same as the first, and so he should have known better."

Yugoslavia: Topalovic, Dudic (Maitajasevic 46), Vitiakic, Vukomanovic, Dzodic, Urumov, Vukic (Mitlovic 53), Ivic, Pantilic (Iliev 68), Ilic, Kezman. Subs Not Used: Avramov, Limonjic, Enkovic, Ivanovic. Booked: Ilic, Vukomanovic, Dzodic, Vitiakic. Goals: Ivic 6.

Republic Of Ireland: O'Reilly, Boxall (Barry-Murphy 43), Ryan, Worrell, Coughlan (Darcy 39), Dunne, Mahon (Inman 59), Morgan, Lee, Baker, Kilbane. Subs Not Used: Clare, Grant, O'Connor, Folan. Sent Off: Ryan (32), Baker (50). Booked: Ryan, Lee. Goals: Kilbane 90 pen. Attendance: 5,550.

Referee: L Huyghe (Belgium).