Under-21 Madeira tournament/Madeira 2 Rep of Ireland 2: The Republic of Ireland's under-21 side were held to a surprise 2-2 draw by the hosts at the Madeira Invitational Tournament in Choupana last night.
Don Givens's youngsters needed two equalisers by Millwall striker Ross Gaynor to avoid an embarrassing defeat.
But Ireland can still win the tournament they have captured twice before if they beat Portugal in Machico tomorrow afternoon.
It was the hosts who took the lead on 15 minutes through Jose Costa. Ireland goalkeeper Rene Gilmartin got caught in no man's land after intercepting a through ball but Costa still showed real quality to lob the ball into an empty net from 30 yards out.
Just four minutes later, Jim O'Brien cut the ball back for Gaynor to fire home.
Madeira regained the lead a minute before the break when Ricardo Sousa flicked a header past Gilmartin.
The second half saw the home side pack their defence and Ireland struggled to create chances.
Gaynor spared the Irish blushes when he smashed home the equaliser in the 83rd minute after a clever pass by Michael Synnott.
MADEIRA: Silva, Freitas, Moniz, Graca, R Sousa, Gouveia, So, Faria, Ramos, Costa, Rodrigues. Subs: M Sousa for Gouveia, Pereira for Ramos, Vissimo for So (all 46); D Goncalves for Rodrigues (76); L Sousa for Costa (81).
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Gilmartin (Walsall); Kane (Blackburn), Powell (Bohemians), Murphy (MK Dons), O'Halloran (Aston Villa), Kelly (Bohemians), Simmonds (Chelsea), Morris (Scunthorpe), O'Brien (Celtic), Gaynor (Millwall), Hayes (Reading). Subs: Chambers (Shelbourne) for O'Brien, Finn (UCD) for Powell (both 46 mins); Dennehy (Sunderland) for Hayes (52); Synnott (Ipswich) for Kane (67).
Referee: P Paraty (Portugal).
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