Victory for Festy

FESTY EBOSELE from Enniscorthy has helped the Republic of Ireland Under-16 soccer team to capture the Victory Shield for the second year in a row. Their outright success was confirmed on Friday with a 2-0 success against Scotland in Bangor, with the talented youngster replacing Seán Kennedy in a midfield role after 41 minutes.

The team had come from behind twice to remain unbeaten after two games earlier in the week, with an injury-time equaliser earning a 2-2 draw with Wales.

And Ebosele also had a crucial role to play in that share of the spoils, as he featured for the full 90 minutes. He came on after 54 minutes in the 1-0 win versus Northern Ireland.

It was an impressive battling finish to the game from the Irish boys as they had used all of their substitutes when captain Seamus Keogh was forced off with an injury in the 74th minute.

Meanwhile, Orla Casey of Wexford Youths and her Republic of Ireland Under-19 colleagues had a rude awakening in their final qualifying round game on Tuesday when they suffered a crushing 8-1 loss to the Netherlands. Luckily, they had already qualified for the elite stages, as the defeat was preceded by wins against Estonia and Latvia.

Kilkenny native Casey lined out in midfield and was replaced by Jade Reddy with quarter of an hour remaining.