Finn Harps’ Fionnan Coyle played today as the Republic of Ireland Under-16s defeated Wales 4-0 to keep their Victory Shield hopes alive.
A brace from Oliver O’Neill and goals from Louie Barry and Andrew Moran either side of the break sealed the victory at Mounthawk Park ahead of the final game against Scotland on Friday.
Coyle (pictured above; front, second from left), who hadn’t featured in Monday’s 3-1 defeat by Northern Ireland, was brought into the side today and the Gweedore man played the full game.
“We started the game very well, we needed to after the last 15 minutes of the game the other night,” said U16 Head Coach Paul Osam.
“We did a lot of preparation coming into this game and it’s great to see young players take instructions on board the way they did today.
“We had Wales penned back for long periods and had a lot of opportunities to score throughout the game. It was very important for us to keep a clean sheet as well so it’s a real lift.
“It gives us an opportunity going into Friday’s match so we’ll go back and look at what we can improve on again going into that game.”
Ireland, the holders, play Scotland in Tralee on Friday.