Keogh part of U17s as they draw with Turkey
GRANGE’S Seamas Keogh was part of the Republic of Ireland U17s who drew with Turkey in Eamonn Deacy Park.
This was the second draw with Turkey in three days for Colin O’Brien’s side as they prepare for the Elite Round qualifiers in Poland in March.
The Turkish game on Thursday was the final one before next month’s Elite Round qualifiers. O’Brien’s side will travel to Poland for games against the hosts along with ties with Georgia and Macedonia.
The top two sides will then qualify for May’s Finals which will take place in England.
Head Coach O’Brien took the chance to rotate his squad and made six changes from last Tuesday’s game.
In very tough conditions, Ireland had the better of the chances on the day, with Troy Parrott going closest
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to breaking the deadlock only to be denied by the Turkish crossbar.
It looked like Ireland had snatched the win in second half injury time, but Tyriek Wright’s close range effort was ruled out for offside.
Speaking after the game O’Brien was pleased with the performance of his side over the two games. He said: “We got exactly what we wanted from it. “Turkey will always give you a battle and they were two very testing games. It gave us an opportunity to look at some new players that came into the squad.
“Every player got some minutes on the pitch that was part of our objective this week.
“I thought we did well today, had the better opportunities but just didn’t convert.
“On the flip side we didn’t concede, that is very important, and we are in a good place ahead of the games next month.”
Keogh was captain of the Republic of Ireland U15s last season. REPUBLIC of Ireland U17: Sean Bohan (Jimmy Corcoran 41), Oisin McEntee, Jason Knight, Callum Thompson (Adam Idah 41), Barry Coffey, Troy Parrott, Seamas Keogh, Luca Connell, Cian Kelly, Tyriek Wright, Conor Grant (Marc Walsh 60).
TURKEY U17: Arda Akbulut (GK), Ridvan Yilmaz, Isik Kaan Arslan, Serkan Bakan (Suleyman Lus 55), Ali Yavuz Kol, Oguzhan Akgun, Ismail Cem Kara Muhemmet Arslantas 68), Atamer Bilgin, Bariscan Isik Altunbas, Erdogan Kaya, Mustafa Kaya (Firat Gullu 41).