A LATE GOAL from Armstrong Oko-Flex saw Ireland U21s earn a 2-2 draw with England U20s in Zagreb, Croatia today.
The FC Zurich youngster saw his initial penalty saved in the 88th minute before converting the rebound in this afternoonโs friendly.
Boss Jim Crawford had rung the changes following Fridayโs 3-2 win over Croatia.
Only three players kept their place in the starting XI โ Bosun Lawal, Sean Roughan and skipper Joe Hodge.
Meanwhile, there were first starts at U21 level for Killian Cahill, Mark OโMahony, Alex Murphy and Connor OโBrien.
An Ollie OโNeill lay-off from a Tony Springett pass set up a superb low strike by Hodge from the edge of the area to hand Ireland an early lead before their opponents produced a strong response.
After a relatively even opening half, England struck either side of the break to go ahead.
The equaliser came when Gent youngster Archie Brown scored in first-half stoppage time.
Just after the break a penalty from Tottenhamโs Dane Scarlett put his side in command, after substitute Anselmo Garcia MacNulty fouled Norwich youngster Abu Kamara in the area.
Both sides made several changes as the game wore on and Ireland went close to an equaliser on more than one occasion before finally getting their reward late in the game.
Oko-Flex won the penalty himself after being taken down inside the area and made no mistake at the second attempt after an initial good save by Jed Ward.
Each team could have secured a dramatic winner in the dying moments โ Connor OโRiordan saw a header saved while Jobe Bellingham sent a free kick from the edge of the area over the bar.
โFor me, when we kept possession of the ball and got into key areas of the pitch, we caused them problems,โ Crawford said afterwards.
โI was just delighted for the likes of Mark OโMahony making his first U21 start against that quality of opposition. Rocco Vata, Alex Murphy and Connor OโBrien played too, so we have some young players who can go again for the next campaign. It wasnโt like we had a year or two up on Englandโs U20s.
โOur objective coming to Croatia was to get everyone on the pitch. Nobody let their country down, absolutely nobody.โ
Ireland: Cahill (Brooks 58); Lawal (Abankwah 85), Murphy (OโRiordan 77), OโBrien (Curtis 59); Roughan (Garcia MacNulty 46), Hodge (Noonan 77), Adeeko (Healy 58), OโNeill, (Armstrong 58) Springett (Oko-Flex 77); Vata (Moran 46); OโMahony (Emakhu 58).
England: Ward, Fisher, Brown, Braybrooke, Hughes, Kamara, Scarlett ยฉ, Baker-Boaitey, Hills, Godo, Matos: Substitutes: Simkin, Stetford, Cisse, Nelson, Bellingham, Dixon, Casey, Buck, Alves, Cadamarteri Esse, Chrisene
Referee: Ivan Vuฤkovic (Croatia)
Iโve no problem with the 23 players selected. I do have an issue with some of the logic applied by OโNeill. Keane and Arter are both injured. Keane is given tne benefit of the doubt, even with the proviso that he might not be available for the Sweden match and canโt play for 90 minutes. Arter is sent back to his club despite tne possibility of being fit in ten days and available for every match. Westwood is picked, rightly, but not played at all during the recent games. Doyle, fit, is told to stay at home and not bother travelling over for the Belarus match, even when it was known there is a question mark over Keane.
Delighted Paul McShane didnโt get a last minute invite. Looking forward to the games. COYBIG