More history for Noonan as McCarthy makes Under 21 international debut

It was a dark for Irish football as the senior side fell to a 2-1 defeat to Armenia in Yerevan that leaves their hopes of competing at the 2026 World Cup hanging by the faintest of threads. 

Nathan Collins and co. started brightly and Evan Ferguson saw a shot headed off the line early on as they tried to build on the momentum from Adam Idah’s late equaliser against Hungary last Saturday in the Aviva Stadium.

But the longer the half drew on, the more the home side got on top. Ireland captain Collins made a superb block in the 36th minute to deny Grant-Leon Ranos before the Armenian forward rattled a shot off the crossbar from the rebound.

That really got the home crowd going and belief was growing among a group of players who lost 5-0 against Portugal last weekend that could get something against an Irish side who were visibly wilting.

Collins was involved in the key moment of the game when he was, probably harshly, adjudged to have fouled Eduard Spertsyan inside the area and the same player converted from the penalty.

1-0 down at half time, it was always going to be hard for Ireland to break down the low block defence and any hopes of getting back into the game pretty much evaporated when Ranos slammed home Nayair Tiknizyan’s cross seven minutes into the second half.

The one bright moment for Ireland in the second half when five minutes later when Ferguson pulled a goal with a delightful finish after Adam Idah’s pass.

However, with over half an hour to still to rescue the game there was never a sense of Ireland getting back into the game and the result could have been worse only that Artur Serobyan’s 90th minute curling shot that beat Caominhín Kelleher was ruled out for a marginal offside.

The fall out from this defeat will continue in the weeks ahead before the next international break in October and there will be major question marks about the future of manager Heimir Hallgrímsson.

After that, the long suffering football supporters needed a pick-me-up and the Under 21 international team, or more particularly, Michael Noonan delivered it.

On the face of it, a 1-0 win at home over Andorra isn’t much to get excited about but it was the manner in which it arrived that offered a glimmer of hope for the future.

Noonan, who lives in Ellistown, has been making a name for himself already in his young career and regularly features for Shamrock Rovers in domestic and European competition. Earlier this year, he made headlines by breaking Romelu Lukaku's record as the youngest goalscorer in the knockout stages of European football with a goal in Molde, Norway before attending school in Rathangan the next morning. 

He received his first Under 21 call-up from manager Jim Crawford for this international break and made his debut as a late substitute as Ireland began their qualification series for the 2027 UEFA Under 21 European Championships with a 2-1 win away Moldova last Thursday.

However, tonight was when he really made his mark in a green jersey.

He spent the first 65 minutes of the match on the match on the bench but once introduced he wasn’t no time in impacting the game played on his club’s ground in Tallaght Stadium.

Less than a minute after entering the pitch, he was found on the edge of the penalty area after good work up the left wing by Trent Kone Doherty but there was still plenty of work to for Noonan before he cut inside and from 25 yard delivered a glorious left foot shot that had the Andorran goalkeeper grasping at nothing but fresh air.

65 mins: Ireland 1-0 Andorra
He was just on the pitch but a superb strike from Michael Noonan gives Ireland the lead in this #U21 Euro qualifier #rtesport @IrelandFootball pic.twitter.com/CbSZmvqX9m

— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 9, 2025

Aged 17 years, one month and nine days, Noonan becomes Ireland’s youngest scorer and it means Crawford’s team have made the perfect start ahead of tougher games to come in the group against the likes of England and Slovakia.

Ironically, Noonan entered the game in place of another Kildare player, Cathal McCarthy.

The Caragh man, who only turned 19 at the end of the August, has made a meteoric rise in the last few months and made his debut in the Championship for Hull City this season.

McCarthy was deployed a defensive central midfielder and his withdrawal was more to do with Crawford wanting to get another forward player on the pitch and pushing for the win, a switch that paid huge dividends.

Ireland’s next game in the qualification series is against Slovakia in Turner’s Cross, Cork on 10th October before they travel to face the winners of the last two European Championships at this level, Lee Carsley’s England, in November.