Ireland sustained three defeats in yesterday's glut of international fixtures while Three Rock Rovers, seeking damage limitation, were beaten by no more than 6-0 by the illustrious host club, Amsterdam, in the European Cup Winners' Cup. The freshly assembled national senior squad went under 3-2 to Switzerland in Padua, the under-18s lost 3-0 to England in their opening European Youth Cup game in Belfast and the under-16s slipped to their second reverse in Antwerp, 5-1 at the hands of France.

The seniors, most of whom were getting their first feel of the pitch on which the European Championship will be staged in September, were not dissatisfied with the result. "It was a very good exercise," said manager Davy Larmour, "and David Smyth, Jason Black and Colin Hanna gained their first caps".

Black made a particularly resourceful debut in midfield as Ireland recovered from a 0-2 deficit to draw level early in the second half, only for the Swiss to poach a winner 12 minutes from the end. David McAnulty scored the two Irish goals - the first in snapping up a rebound in the 33rd minute and the second from a pass by Hanna.

Unfortunately, in their opening Euro challenge at Queen's University, the Irish under-18s couldn't repeat the 2-0 win they had recently achieved in Cardiff.

A tentative start allowed Philip Sully to lash England into the lead in the 12th minute. Sean Nicholson and David Hobbs started to resist with some defiance, while astute distribution from the back by Karl Burns resulted in several menacing runs by Peter McConnell but only one shot by Alan Giles had sufficient velocity to test Kier Stanley in the English goal.

That was during an encouraging phase early in the second period. However, relentless English pressure, generated especially by Andrew West on the right flank, yielded further goals - despite the resilience of Ian Hosford - from Glen Kirkham (50th minute) and Robert Moore, in the dying seconds.