King gets lift from display, if not result

UNDER-21: Turkey 1 Rep of Ireland 0:THE REPUBLIC of Ireland Under-21s failed to recover from conceding a sloppy early goal last night in Manisa as they suffered European Championship qualification defeat to Turkey.

Noel King’s side conjured a brave effort in their quest to salvage a result, which would have boosted their qualification hopes on the back of last Thursday’s victory over Hungary in their opener.

A lofted ball from Turkey full-back Kamil Corekci into the inside-right channel on 10 minutes was poorly defended, allowing the alert Sahin Aygunes to take full advantage by rounding the Ireland stopper Ian McLoughlin and tucking home from an acute angle.

Despite King enduring a competitive defeat for the first time since taking charge 13 months ago, the manager is sure the display he witnessed against the Turks gives him optimism for the campaign ahead.

“It’s still very much possible to qualify,” said King. “We’ve only played two matches so far and with improvement in certain areas, we’ll be well in the reckoning. We’ve come here to play the team I think started the group as favourites and we’re leaving disappointed not to have got a point.

“The goal wasn’t a good one from a defensive perspective, especially as we’re normally so tight defensively in those situations but the lads fought to the end.

“I thought our spirit in searching for an equaliser was fantastic and we’ll have no fears when we host them in Ireland next year in the reverse fixture.”

REP OF IRELAND:McLoughlin (MK Dons); Oyebanjo (York City), Canavan (Scunthorpe), Kiernan (Wigan Athletic), Gunning (Dundee United); Towell (Hibernian), Connolly (Bolton Wanderers), Clifford (Chelsea), White (Leeds United); Hendrick (Derby County); Brady (Hull City). Subs: Collins (Shrewsbury Town) for Hendrick (66 mins), Duffy (Scunthorpe United) for Oyebanjo (75 mins), Hourihane (Plymouth Argyle) for Towell (80 mins). Subs not used: McCarey (Wolves), L Dixon (Bohemians).

TURKEY:Karabulut; Corekçi, Aziz, Basdas, Nizam; Kaplan, Gulle, Demir, Uysal, Colak; Aygunes. Subs: Yilmaz for Kaplan (70 mins), Uludag for Çolak (85 mins), Ozmen for Basdas (90+2). Scorer: Aygunes 10.

Referee:P Massoleni (Ita).