Ireland reveal promise amid defensive errors

Davor Suker and Alen Boksic may have done the Irish seniors a considerable favour simply by staying at home this weekend but at Buckley Park last night both nations' defences got caught up in the spirit of giving when they met in their opening game of the UEFA under-21 championship qualifiers.

The visitors, as is generally the rule in more social settings, produced their gifts up front , and their hosts did enough by the end of the night to ensure that the Croatians didn't feel hard done by as they made the journey home.

The influence of defensive errors was unfortunate, for this was a fine competitive encounter enjoyed by 4,500 spectators and a game in which Ian Evans's side played some nicely balanced and well-controlled football.

Before they had shown what they were capable of, however, the Irish were in front with just two minutes played. Dario Smoje surrendered possession to Daryl Clare on the edge of his own box and after the initial shot was blocked by the goalkeeper, Barry Conlon arrived to sidefoot home into an empty net.

It took 55 minutes for Goran Tomic to level the sides and when he did there was more than one Irish defender with some questions to answer, the striker being allowed to take the ball and turn inside the six-yard box.

Within a couple of minutes, though, the home side were back in front, Stephen Baker meeting Niall Inman's flicked-on corner with a volley at the far post to produce what was comfortably the goal of the game.

That should have been the end of it, for despite being reduced to 10 men just before the break by the dismissal of Conlon, Evans's side defended well for most of the remaining half an hour. Most of it.

With victory in sight, Daniel Kovacevic got to a promising position just wide of the right-hand post.

The cross was terrible but so was the attempt to cut it out by Ross Darcy and Tomo Sokoto then made a slight contact before David Worrell's attempted clearance struck Alex O'Reilly and ended up in the net.

After Conlon's goal, it was clear that it was the Croatians who were going to have to make the running in the game.

Certainly the Irish didn't look too anxious to push their luck after gaining the advantage, with most of the midfield now dropping back to provide extra cover at the slightest hint of danger through the remainder of the half.

Having been let down by their defence so early on, though, the visitors' midfield, led impressively by their captain Ivan Leko, looked capable of rising to the challenge and if it hadn't been for their rather literal interpretation of the phrase "final ball" they might have provided the sort of opportunities that Goran Tomic and Tomo Sokoto might have been able to make something of.

Unfortunately for them, scarcely a ball reached its intended destination, with Derek Coughlan cutting out a good deal of the high stuff while David Worrell showed the way when it came to mopping up the attempts to thread it through.

Central to the game plan for much of the 40 minutes that followed, though, was Thomas Morgan, a player whose game still seems to step up a gear or two when he pulls on an Irish jersey.

The Dubliner worked tirelessly in the centre, dropping back to pick up possession and eyeing up the possibilities in front of him.

It was he who pulled the strings as the home side attempted to catch their opponents on the break and he who, more than once, almost sent Daryl Clare clear into space down the right-hand side.

The Croatians did have their chances to level things up - Robbie Ryan did exceptionally well to head behind when Tomic looked set to meet Leko's cross just beyond the far post and Worrell saved the day just before the half when he beat a couple of his opponents to the loose ball after Igor Biscan's shot had only been parried by the Irish goalkeeper.

The second of the chances came just before referee Pascal Garibian blew his whistle for half-time and just after he had given Barry Conlon his marching orders for taking a swipe at Branko Hucika in retaliation for what had looked like a foul from behind on the edge of the sixyard box.

Republic Of Ireland: O'Reilly (West Ham); Worrell (Blackburn), Coughlan (Cork City), Ryan (Millwall); Boxall (Brentford), Inman (Peterborough), Morgan (St Patrick's Athletic), Mahon (Tranmere), Kilbane (West Brom); Clare (Grimsby), Conlon (Manchester City). Subs: Darcy (Tottenham) and Baker (Middlesbrough) for Coughlan and Mahon (50), Folan (Crystal Palace) for Boxall (86).

Croatia: Cavlina (Hrv dragovoijac); Bis can (Croatia Zagreb), Smoje (AC Milan), Hucika (Hrv.dragovoijac); Berdi (Hrv drag ovoijac), Vejic (Zagreb), Leko (Hajduk Split), Pilipovic (Rijaka), Seric (Hajduk Split); Sokoto (Croatia Zagreb), Tomic (Vicenza). Subs: Kovacevic (Hrv dragovoijac) for Vejic (halftime), Balaban (Rijeka) for Berdi (67), Sabljak (Segesta Slaek) for Kovacevic (90).

Referee: P Garibian (France).