Republic of Ireland Men’s Under-15s produced an impressive 4-0 victory over Wales at The Carlisle Grounds this afternoon thanks to goals from Ramon Martos, Jaden Umeh and debutant Billy O’Neill. Almeria’s Martos struck in the first half and it was followed by a superb second-half brace by Cork City’s Jaden Umeh. The game was wrapped up in the last minute by Bray Wanderers’ own O’Neill in front of crowd of 400 in Bray. Ireland MU15s went into the game following wins over Poland and Australia and their confidence showed as they started the game stronger, enjoying a lot of possession. They had to wait until the 17th minute for the first clear-cut chance when Muhammad Oladiti flashed an excellent ball across goal that couldn’t be diverted goalwards from the head of Martos. But Ireland didn’t have long to wait to open the scoring. Michael Noonan intercepted a free-kick from Wales and drove at goal. He played in Martos who cooly finished into the bottom corner past Isaac Dudding for his first Ireland goal. In the 37th minute Ireland had a great chance to double their lead. Oladiti freed Brody Lee on the left, he beat his man and fired at goal forcing Dudding into a smart save. The Swansea stopper could only palm it out and it narrowly avoided the outstretched foot of Noonan who was close to turning it home for two. In the second half the tempo of the game remained the same and Oladiti blazed over the bar when he put through by Grady McDonnell.
RESULT | #IRLU15 | 🇮🇪 4-0 🏴
A fantastic performance 🙌
Ramon Martos, Jaden Umeh (2) and Billy O’Neill with the goals for Ireland as they defeat Wales in Bray ☘️#COYBIG | #WeAreOne pic.twitter.com/WKaUCcBjek— FAIreland ⚽️🇮🇪 (@FAIreland) March 1, 2023
It was 2-0 in the 50th minute. Umeh received the ball on the left and drove at the full back he cut inside and tucked the ball inside the near post. Four minutes later it was 3-0 to Ireland and it was a wonder strike from Umeh. Noonan pinched the ball off the Wales defence and fed it to Umeh. The striker took aim from 20 yards and delivered a beauty curling effort into the top corner for his fifth international goal this season. Wales had a chance to strike back when Louie Bradbury rounded the goalkeeper but Oisin McDonagh was on the line to clear the danger. Ali Topcu was brought on for his debut and the Shelbourne goalkeeper was called into action saving with his feet to deny Charles Street. O’Neill completed the dream debut scoring on his home ground in the final minute. His curling effort from the edge of the box found the bottom corner much to the delight of the home crowd. The teams face each other again on Friday afternoon. Republic of Ireland: Noonan (Topcu, 67), Oladiti, McDonagh, Steward (McGrath, 57), Solanke (C) (Sherlock, 70), Finneran, McDonnell, Martos (Costello, 57), Lee (Kovleveskis, 41), Noonan (O’Neill,57), Umeh (Ogbonna, 57). Wales: Dudding, Hillier, Thomas, Pugh, Dearden, Gardner, Rhodes, Allmark, Evans, Bradbury, Grainger. Substitutes: O. Lloyd, Neill, Street, Cisse, Lienou, T. Lloyd, Abbott, Jones, Valentine Referee: John Hanney (Ireland) International Friendly Result/Fixture Wednesday, March 1 | Ireland MU15 4-0 Wales MU15Friday, March 3 | Ireland MU15 v Wales MU15, The Carlisle Grounds, Bray, KO 12pm
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