THE REPUBLIC OF Ireland U19s have opened their European Championship qualifying campaign on a high with a 6-0 win over Gibraltar.

Mark O’Mahony scored a hat-trick, while Thomas Lonergan, Nathan Fraser and Sean Grehan were also on the scoresheet for Tom Mohan’s side in Wales.

RESULT | #IRLU19 | 🇮🇪 6-0 🇬🇮

An excellent start to our U19 EURO qualifying campaign 👏

Mark O’Mahony hits a hat-trick with Tom Lonergan, Nathan Fraser and Sean Grehan hitting the other goals ☘️#COYBIG | #WeAreOne pic.twitter.com/snyp4ZGEke

— FAIreland ⚽️🇮🇪 (@FAIreland) September 21, 2022

The Irish young guns are playing three games across the water this week in Group 4, facing the hosts on Saturday and Hungary on Tuesday as part of this phase.

The top two teams in each group will join top seeds Portugal in the spring 2023 elite round along with the third-placed team with the best record against the top two in their section. Hosts Malta qualify directly for the final tournament from 3 to 16 July 2023.

The star-studded Boys In Green squad, captained by James Abankwah, made a bright start today.

Cork City striker O’Mahony opened the scoring on 12 minutes, the assist courtesy of Sam Curtis. The other five goals came in the second half; O’Mahony scoring twice more off the back of Justin Ferizaj corners, substitutes Thomas Lonergan and Nathan Fraser on target in quick succession in the 75th and 76th minutes — the former making up for a missed penalty just beforehand — and Sean Grehan completing the rout in injury time.

Ronan Maher also provided a couple of assists in an impressive team display.

Here’s how Ireland MU19s line-up against Gibraltar in their first U19 EURO qualifier 🇮🇪🇬🇮

James Abankwah captains Tom Mohan’s team in Wales 💪

⌚️| KO 4pm
⚽️ | Live updates ➡️ https://t.co/2Cp6KULuF2#IRLU19 | #COYBIG | #WeAreOne pic.twitter.com/mha2gmvZhx

— FAIreland ⚽️🇮🇪 (@FAIreland) September 21, 2022