An impressive Republic of Ireland performance resulted in a 3-0 defeat for Cymru in their second UEFA U17 EURO finals match in Felcsút, Hungary.
Craig Knight made six changes to the side that lost to Hungary in the opening match, including Luey Giles and Cody Twose who returned from suspension.
Cymru made a bright start to the match and came narrowly close to scoring in the first minute. A superb curling effort by striker Iwan Morgan from outside the box was tipped onto the post by Jason Healy to prevent the early lead.
With twenty minutes played, the Republic of Ireland were awarded a penalty after Ike Orazi was taken down in the box. Following a save by Luke Armstrong, the referee awarded the Irish a retake for leaving the line early, and Naj Razi broke the deadlock with the follow up despite a second penalty save by Armstrong.
Ten minutes later Orazi doubled Ireland’s lead, finding the top corner from an effort just inside the box to give his side a two-goal lead at half time.
Despite increased pressure from Cymru in the second half and changes in attack and midfield, it was Ireland that extended their lead on the hour mark with a superb long range effort from Romeo Akachukwu to all but confirm the three points.
Cymru’s final group match will take place on Tuesday 23 May against Poland at the BSC Stadium in Budapest. The match kicks off at 19:00 BST and will be shown live on the BBC Sport website and iPlayer.
Cymru: 12. Luke Armstrong, 3. Luey Giles, 5. Dylan Lawlor, 6. Brayden Clarke, 13. Sam Parker (2. Rhys Thomas 79’), 18. Alfie Tuck (4. Joe Andrews 52’), 8. Charlie Crew ©, 7. Cody Twose (11. Joe Hatch 87’), 20. Troy Perrett (10. Gabriele Biancheri 52’), 19. Freddie Issaka (14. Josh Beecher 79’), 9. Iwan Morgan.
Subs not used: 1. Kit Margetson, 15. Alyas Debono, 16. Jacob Cook, 17. Alfie Cunningham.
Yellow cards: 9. Iwan Morgan 82’, 4. Joe Andrews 83’.
