Garvan rescues a point

Rep of Ireland 1 Switzerland 1:It was the same old story for the Republic of Ireland under-21s and manager Don Givens at the RSC in Waterford, as they had to settle for their third successive draw of their Uefa Championships Group Two campaign.

Givens’ side were in fact on route to second defeat against Switzerland but the 1-1 draw was secured by an injury-time strike from captain Owen Garvan of Ipswich Town.

Ireland were without the suspended Stephen Gleeson and the injured duo of James Berrett and Brendan Maloney, but controlled large parts of the game, only to prove wasteful in front of goal.

Alan Judge and Cillian Sheridan both missed good chances but the breakthrough came from the visitors in the 58th minute.

Valentin Stocker struck the base of Shane Redmond’s right post and Alessandro Ciarocchi attempted to finish only for his effort to be deflected by an outstretched leg and into the path of Fabien Frei, who made no mistake.

Judge went close a minute later and Sheridan was denied an equaliser in the 87th minute when his header was spectacularly tipped over by Yann Sommer.

However, Garvan arrived in the right place at the right time to secure a share of the spoils after some good work from Judge and Keith Treacy.

Switzerland are top of the group with 10 points, while the Irish are mid-table with three points from their opening four fixtures.