Clinical opportunism from Johann Luyet twice punished Ireland to give Switzerland a narrow win over Brian Kerr's under-18s at Frank Cooke Park last night.
Luyet struck first on 25 minutes, punishing a poor clearance by Irish goalkeeper Brian Murphy. Sloppiness in the Irish midfield, when no one picked up Clifford Byrne's clearance, cost Ireland a second goal six minutes after the break. The lively Luyet picked up the loose ball, skipped through and put it beyond substitute goalkeeper Wayne Henderson.
J J Melligan gave Ireland hope when his crisp shot from the edge of the box finally beat Woelfli seven minutes from time.
Republic of Ireland: B Murphy (Manchester City); van Zanten (Celtic), Byrne (Sunderland), Tierney (Man Utd), D Murphy (QPR); Gamble (Reading), Cawley (Leeds), Thornton (Tranmere Rovers); Larkin (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Doyle (Blackburn), Reid (Nottingham Forest). Subs: Henderson (Aston Villa) and Coleman (Wolverhampton Wanderers) for B Murphy and van Zanten (both at half-time), Melligan (Wolverhampton Wanderers) for Reid (60 mins), Martin (UCD) for Doyle (78 mins), Lester (Everton) for Cawley (86 mins.).
Switzerland: Woelfli; Schwegler, Portmann, Andrey, Jaddy; Tonelli, Quadroni, Baumann, Bah; Luyet, Wagner. Subs: Peyrot for Tonelli (half-time), Sereinig for Wagner (69 mins), De Donno for Luyet (86 mins), Mieville for Baumann (90 mins).
Referee: P Feighery (Dublin)
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