Republic of Ireland U21s 2

Latvia U21s 2

Darryl Geraghty reports from Tallaght Stadium

IRELAND UNDER-21s FAILED to build on Friday’s incredible 1-0 away in Turkey, dropping two big points at home to a resolute Latvian side.

Sinclair Armstrong thought he had set Ireland on their way but two lapses in concentration saw Ireland fall behind before Sean Roughan levelled.

The visitors, although fifth seeds in the group, had already shown they are not to be taken lightly having beaten Turkey and pushed Ireland all the way previously.

Jim Crawford made just two changes to the side that arrived back from Istanbul on Saturday with Ollie O’Neill and Rocco Vata coming in for Aidomo Emakhu and Connor O’Riordan.

It was Leyton Orient’s O’Neill who went closest just three minutes in. Following an intricate move down the right, the ball sat up kindly for the former Derry City loanee but he was quickly suffocated.

Having been pressed high early on, Ireland began to find their groove down the left-hand side and the rampaging Sean Roughan went close to the near top corner.

And just after a quarter of an hour, the breakthrough did come when Rocco Vata picked up a loose ball in the middle and burst forward at the heart of the Latvian defence. The Watford man’s initial pass was intercepted but sat up nicely for Sinclair Armstrong, whose close-range shot was brilliantly saved by Latvia captain Janis Beks. O’Neill was sharp to pick up the rebound but again was denied, only for the ball to fall back to Armstrong to tap home.

The Bristol City frontman and Watford’s Vata then missed two glorious chances in quick succession to double the lead: skipper Joe Hodge cleverly picked out the unmarked Armstrong at the back post but he took too long to shoot and was bravely blocked by Beks again. And seconds later, both flying wingers combined as O’Neill picked out Vata, again unmarked, but he dragged his shot wide from 12 yards.

It was shaping up to be one of those days for the talented left winger Vata when, minutes before the break, his thunderous low strike came crashing off the inside of the post and away to safety much to his disbelief.

Very much against the run of play, the visitors got themselves level with just their second effort to date. Ralfs Maslovs went on a long bursting run down the left wing before squaring to Kaspars Anmanis just inside the area, and the midfielder side-footed home giving the relatively untroubled Josh Keeley no chance.

Just minutes after the restart, the home side were up in arms when left back Maslovs went flying in, two feet off the ground on Friday’s match-winner Sam Curtis who did well to ride the challenge. Referee Stefan Ebner waved away the protests.

Just after the hour mark, disaster struck for Ireland as the visitors took the lead when Roberts Melkis’ cross seemed to catch Keeley out, resulting in the keeper palming the ball straight onto the head of substitute Ivans Patrikejevs who headed home.

Ireland responded immediately when Moran picked out Roughan on the left who drilled the ball past Beks to level.

With time running out Ireland tried desperately for the winner. Both Hodge and substitute Johnny Kenny had shots from close range blocked as Latvia put bodies on the line before another substitute Aidomo Emakhu took on all comers down the right side but swiped wildly at the ball once entering the area.

Anselmo Garcia-McNulty thought he had snatched the victory in injury time, as he rose like a salmon to get on the end of Matt Healy’s inswinging free-kick, but saw his header flash wide.

Rep. of Ireland: Josh Keeley; Sam Curtis, James Abankwah, Anselmo Garcia MacNulty, Seán Roughan; Rocco Vata (Armstrong Oko-Flex, 79’), Joe Hodge, Matt Healy; Ollie O’Neill (Aidomo Emakhu, 64’), Sinclair Armstrong (Johnny Kenny, 79’), Andrew Moran

Subs not used: Tiernan Brooks, Connor O’Riordan, Mark O’Mahony, James Furlong, Killian Phillips, Baba Adeeko

Latvia: Janis Beks; Olgerts Rascevskis (Davids Druzinins, 58’), Oskars Vientiess, Rudolfs Reingolcs, Ralfs Maslovs; Kristians Kauselis (Kritstofers Rekis, 67’), Kaspars Anmanis, Kristers Penkevics, Roberts Melkis; Glebs Patika, Bruno Melnis (Ivans Patrikejevs, 45’)

Subs not used: Raivo Sturins, Sergejs Vilkovs, Valters Purs, Markuss Kruglauzs, Glebs Mihalcovs, Kristaps Grabovskis

Referee: Stefan Ebner (Austria)