MOLLOY & SPAIGHT SCORE IN IRELAND U16S WIN
Victory Shield
Ireland 3-2 Wales
Thursday 10th October 2024
Broadwood Stadium, Cumbernauld
Dundalk FC duo TJ Molloy and Seán Spaight were both on the scoresheet as Ireland Boys’ Under-16s beat Wales 3-2 in Cumbernauld on Thursday afternoon, keeping alive their hopes of Victory Shield success.
Goals from Molloy, Niall Sullivan and captain Spaight earned Paul Osam’s team the three points as they bounced back from defeat on penalties by hosts Scotland on Tuesday.
The Irish were ahead just before half-time when Jack Greene’s corner caused confusion in the Welsh defence and Molloy tapped home to make it two goals in two games this week.
At the break, Molloy was replaced by Sullivan, and less than a minute after his introduction, he netted a stunning strike from the edge of the area to double Ireland’s lead.
8 October 2024; Seán Spaight captaining Ireland U16s v Scotland U16s in the Victory Shield. Photo by Gerry Scully.
It would be 3-0 in the 48th minute when a slick corner routine from Ireland saw Spaight react fastest and turn home from close range.
Wales would strike back with 20 minutes of the contest remaining with Archie Lorimer finishing off a great solo run for 3-1.
In the final few minutes, Ireland could have wrapped it up when Sullivan had a great chance to make it 4-1 but he failed to finish off a fine move engineered by Richard Ferizaj.
And a minute later, Leo Papirnyk pulled one back to make it an edgy final few seconds, but Ireland saw it out. Osam’s side now go head-to-head with the North for the Victory Shield on Sunday, a ‘winner takes all’ clash which kicks off at 11.30am.
The North, who had Dundalk FC defender Calum Woods in their starting XI, beat Scotland 1-0 on Thursday.
IRELAND: Moloney, Prizeman, Spaight (C), Dumigan, Burke, McGrath (Spelman 70), Collins (Ferizaj 60), Molloy (Sullivan 41), Byrne (Dempsey 77), Greene (Dunne 60), Ogungbe (Ikechukwu 60).
WALES: Abbotson, Godfrey, Robinson, Williams, Heywood (C), Romano, Pita, Moreno, Pitt, Jones, Lorimer. Substitutes: Lines, Papirnyk, Norris, Cartwright, Conaty, Thomas, Tankiewicz, Evans, Hawkins.
Ireland Victory Shield Fixtures/Results
Tuesday 8th October: Scotland 1-1 Ireland (Scotland won 4-3 penalties).
Thursday 10th October: Ireland 3-2 Wales.
Sunday 13th October: Northern Ireland v Ireland, Broadwood Stadium, Cumbernauld, Scotland, kick-off 11.30am.
Report details from FAI.ie.
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