Historic win for Crawford's U21s secures play-off place

Ballyshannon resident Jim Crawford enjoyed arguably the finest moment of his tenure as Republic of Ireland Under-21 manager as a first-ever victory over England at that age grade secured a place in the European Championship qualifying play-offs.

The win capped a perfect international window for Crawford and his side. When they assembled late in September, they knew only three victories from their remaining fixtures would leave them with any chance of reaching the play-offs, and even that might not be enough.

They did all they could, however, producing three outstanding results. First came a 2-0 away win over Slovakia, their main rivals for second place in the group. That was followed by a dramatic 4-3 victory over Kazakhstan in Cork, setting up a decisive final group game against England.

Ireland needed to equal or better Slovakia's result away to Andorra. For much of that contest, Andorra held Slovakia to a 1-1 draw, but a late winner ultimately meant only victory would suffice for Ireland.

England, managed by former Ireland international Lee Carsley, had already secured top spot in the group and automatic qualification for next summer's tournament in Serbia and Albania following a draw with Slovakia in their previous outing.

While Carsley rested several first-choice players, he still fielded a side packed with Premier League experience and big-money signings. England took the lead after just seven minutes through £40m Everton winger Tyler Dibling.

Ireland responded superbly and led by half-time thanks to strikes from Waterford's Tommy Lonergan and Gillingham's Conor McManus.

Lonergan grabbed his second goal shortly after the hour mark, and his fourth of the international window, before Ireland produced a heroic defensive display to see out the contest.

"We never doubted the group of players we have here," said Crawford afterwards.

"I thought they were outstanding tonight. It was one hell of a performance.

"They showed great character after going 1-0 down. Scoring three unbelievable goals against a top team that will probably go on and win the European Championships.

"I don't know the price tag on their squad. It would be a hell of a lot more than ours, but there wasn't much difference. I felt we were the better team."

On the pitch, Caragh's Cathal McCarthy turned in another superb display. Having featured as a defensive midfielder and, more recently, at centre-half during the campaign, he was deployed in a new role at right wing-back against England.

Tasked with containing Amario Cozier-Duberry, who has impressed in the Championship while on loan at Middlesbrough from Brighton & Hove Albion, McCarthy also caused problems of his own with a series of powerful forward runs, finding promising positions throughout the first-half.

The Kildare man had to tread carefully after picking up a yellow card in the 26th minute but continued to carry out his defensive duties impressively.

Pressure mounted after Lonergan's second goal as England pushed for a way back into the game. Highly rated Everton winger Tyrique George was introduced to test McCarthy's tiring legs, but the Hull City player, currently on loan at Kilmarnock, stood up admirably to the challenge.

One late interception, followed by a determined burst towards the halfway line, perfectly summed up both McCarthy's performance and Ireland's defiant spirit on a famous night for Irish football.

As Ireland dropped deeper to protect their advantage, Ellistown's Michael Noonan was introduced to provide fresh legs and an outlet on the counter-attack in the final ten minutes. It was confirmed last week that Noonan will join Nottingham Forest at the start of January and the Premier League club’s Head of Development, for Ireland international Andy Reid, was watching on in the stand as Noonan came on to help Ireland see out the game.

Although England enjoyed plenty of possession in the closing stages, Ireland's disciplined defending restricted them largely to speculative efforts from distance, and the hosts were fully deserving of their victory.

The result means Ireland will take their place in Friday's play-off draw alongside Denmark, Finland, Turkey, Greece, Iceland, the Netherlands and Czechia. One of those nations awaits in a two-legged tie in November, with a place at next summer's European Championship at stake.