Italy 4 Republic of Ireland 1
Conor Coventry struck a second-half penalty in Ascoli last night, but the Republic of Ireland U21s ultimately fell well short to Italy in Group F of the European Under-21 Championship qualification.
Guaranteed an historic play-off position at the very least, Ireland entered this game knowing that a win would secure them an automatic spot in next year’s finals in Romania and Georgia.
However Italian goals from Nicolò Rovella, Nicolò Cambiaghi, Pietro Pellegri and Giacomo Quagliata put paid to that notion.
But Jim Crawford’s side shouldn’t feel too disheartened as they seek an alternative route towards potentially reaching a major international tournament at the U21 grade for the first time.
Ireland boss Crawford made three changes to his starting line-up for this game from the recent win over Montenegro, with Joel Bagan, Gavin Kilkenny and 17-year-old Brighton & Hove Albion attacker Evan Ferguson all drafted into the side. Eiran Cashin kept his spot at the heart of the defence, but early hesitancy by the Derby County man presented Pellegri with an opportunity.
The Torino striker’s effort from a right-hand angle was saved by the feet of Ireland goalkeeper Brian Maher. But the hosts eventually broke the deadlock on 20 minutes. After Mark McGuinness was adjudged to have fouled Caleb Okoli following a corner, Hungarian referee Gergo Bogár pointed to the spot.
Rovella stepped forward to comfortably fire the resulting penalty to the bottom right-hand corner of the net, sending Maher the wrong way in the process.
This was an early setback for the visitors and while Ferguson was doing his best to make an impact up front, Italy continued to showcase their quality.
The in-form Will Smallbone was close to getting a shot off inside the opposition box just shy of the half-hour mark, before Ireland eventually fell two goals behind on 35 minutes.
Trying his luck from distance, Cambiaghi drilled a fierce drive beyond the reach of Maher despite the Derry City custodian getting his hands to the ball.
Maher will possibly feel he could have done more to save the shot, but may have been suffering the ill-effects of a knock that required treatment just a few minutes earlier.
The goalkeeper did produce a fingertip stop from Cambiaghi in the closing moments of the opening period. However a mix-up with defender McGuinness presented Pellegri with a simple finish from close-range straight after the restart.
This was a further dent to Ireland’s confidence, but when Smallbone was upended by Mattia Viti inside the box, they were offered a potential lifeline.
Team captain Coventry expertly fired home from 12 yards to bring the gap down to a more manageable two goals and with Conor Noss and Mipo Odubeko immediately introduced off the bench, Ireland were hoping to bring momentum into the final-quarter.
However, Italy continued to control the tempo of the play and an 85th-minute finish by substitute Quagliata put the seal on a fully deserved triumph for the home team.
Italy: Plizarri; Okoli, Pirola, Viti, Parisi (Quagliata, 66 mins); Cambiaso, Ricci, Rovella (Ranocchia, 88 mins), Bove (Miretti, 66 mins); Pellegri (Esposito, 83 mins), Cambiaghi (Colombo, 88 mins).
Republic of Ireland: Maher; O’Connor, McGuinness, Cashin (O’Brien, 83 mins), Bagan (Lyons, 46 mins); Smallbone, Coventry, Kilkenny (Noss, 62 mins), Wright; Ferguson (Kayode, 74 mins), Kerrigan (Odubeko, 62 mins).
Referee: G Bogár (Hungary).
