The Ireland Men's Under-15s finished fourth in the Torneo delle Nazioni following a 3-1 loss to South Korea in a 3rd/4th Place Play-Off match in Italy.
Having beaten the UAE and North Macedonia, Jason Donoghue's team then lost to Austria before setting up this clash with a South Korean side, who were very impressive.
A first-half double from the opposition put them behind, but they did register a strong second-half showing that got them deservedly on the scoresheet before being punished with the last kick of the game.
South Korea started brightly and had a header cleared off the line moments before Pohang Steeers attacker Junho Jin cut inside to fire a shot past goalkeeper George Moloney to open the scoring.
Ireland then began to grow into the game and showed their own quality by moving the ball well and forcing a number of corners in a bid to get back level. One of which saw Alan Settell’s powerful header cleared off the line as the pressure mounted.
RESULT | #IRLU15 | 🇮🇪1-3 🇰🇷
A great effort from our young Boys in Green but they fall short against South Korea ☘️
A strong tournament as we finish 4th overall 🇮🇪 #COYBIG pic.twitter.com/RVDl9NiW44
— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) May 1, 2024
While pushing for the equaliser, Ireland were undone on the counter as Jin’s clubmate Suhyun Ahn doubled their lead. But again, Ireland responded well, as both Richard Ferizaj and Danny Burke saw thunderous strikes fly just over the bar.
Following some changes at half-time, Ireland halved the deficit just a few minutes into the second period when substitute TJ Molloy showed great composure to slot home his penalty after Ferizaj showed good feet in the area before being brought down.
Ireland fashioned a number of promising attacks as they tried desperately to level matters, but just as the final whistle was about to be blown, Geonmin Choi blasted in to seal the win.
Ireland: George Moloney (Darragh Brunton 40), Sean Speight, Niall Sullivan (Joe Byrne 62), Richard Ferizaj, David Dunne, Joel McPhail (Jason Spelman 40), Desmond Armstrong (TJ Molloy 40), Danny Burke, Samuel Ogungbe (Ben Dumigan 53), Alan Sattell (Tadhg Prizeman 40), Brody Collins (Kian Quigley 40).
South Korea: Gunho Kim, Minjun Choi, Jihwan Moon, Jun Namkoong, Dohun Kim, Sunhyun Ahn, Geonmin Choi, Gyeongmin Min, Samuel Seo, Jinhyeok Lee, and Junho Jin.
