Thomastown’s Colm Whelan got a goal on his first Republic of Ireland cap last night in their 1-1 draw with Luxembourg.
Colm got his goal in the 69th minute only minutes after coming on, however, the hosts were given a penalty late in the game which gave them the equaliser.
Ireland had had their own spot-kick saved in the first half as they missed out on taking maximum points from their first two games.
Jim Crawford handed first Under-21 starts to Joel Bagan, Dawson Devoy, and Evan Ferguson with Lee O’Connor returning to the starting XI.
The first chances of the game fell to Ireland and Will Ferry was involved in both. First, he saw an effort flash past Lucas Fox’s post then he attempted to lob the goalkeeper but couldn’t generate enough power.
In the 26th minute, Tyreik Wright went close when he was put through by Conor Coventry. The Salford City forward angled his shot towards goal however Fox denied him with a smart save.
Ireland had a glorious chance in the 32nd minute to go ahead when they were awarded a penalty. Ferry won the spot kick when he was brought down. Wright stepped up but Fox pulled off a fine save to keep the scores level.
It took until 20 minutes into the second half for either side to have a chance. Ferry worked hard to feed a ball to Coventry who fired at goal.
Ireland got the goal their play deserved on 69 minutes. Whelan and Andrew Moran were brought on for Ferguson and Ferry and it was Whelan who made an immediate impact finding the corner with a tidy finish.
But the hosts got back into the game through a penalty.
Oisin McEntee brought down his man when attempting to head away and the referee pointed to the spot. Kuete made no mistake with the penalty.
The two teams face each other again on October 8th in Ireland.
@colmwhelan2000 take a bow! First International Goal for Ireland Under 21’s. Many more to come pic.twitter.com/kGrAmty0me
— Thomastown United (@ThomastownUtd) September 8, 2021