Our report from Tallaght Stadium.
The Ireland under-21’s slumped to a 2-2 draw against Latvia on Tuesday in what could prove to be a costly result come the end of the campaign this time next month.
Sinclair Armstrong’s opener was cancelled out by a Latvian equaliser just on the stroke of half-time and Ireland would concede again midway through the second half, only for an instant response from Sean Roughan who prevented any potential shock home defeat.
It was a strange atmosphere in Tallaght on the night, with just 953 supporters in attendance.
As predicted in my preview of the match, Jim Crawford did change shape to a more attacking 4-2-3-1 formation, with Rocco Vata operating off the left, Ollie O’Neil off the right and Andrew Moran behind Sinclair Armstrong up front.
And it was the Bristol City striker who opened the scoring after just 15 minutes when he pounced on a chipped pass from Vata.
His initial strike was parried into the path of Ollie O’Neil whose blocked shot found its way back to Armstrong and he made no mistake at the second time of asking.
Despite the early goal and Vata looking dangerous throughout the first 45, Ireland failed to capitalise on their momentum and conceded the equaliser on 42 minutes.
Latvia left back Ralfs Maslovs drove from inside his own half to the edge of the box, leaving numerous Irish players in his wake before squaring for Kaspars Anmanis to finish past Josh Keeley and leave nothing between the sides at the break.
The goal seemed to act somewhat of a wake-up call for Ireland as they applied some early second half pressure, but they would concede another goal from nothing after an hour of play.
A Latvian cross was misjudged by Keeley who parried the ball straight to substitute Ivans Patrikejevs to head into an empty net.
The Irish response was instant, as a minute and a half later Andrew Moran picked the ball up in a pocket of space and found Sean Roughan, who powered his left footed shot past the Latvian keeper to score his first under-21 goal but more importantly to level the game.
With 25 minutes still to play, Ireland refused to panic and that seemed to be their undoing.
The final quarter of the game petered out with no significant chances as an Anselmo Garcia McNulty header wide proving the final chance and act of the game.
It was an Irish performance which lacked urgency, but one which they will look to rectify next month, according to Matt Healy.
“We have a great group of lads in there and we will definitely bounce back from this.
“There is great character and personality in there and we will all look forward to the next game in Cork.”
Jim Crawford’s side will swap Dublin for the rebel county when they welcome Norway to Turners Cross next month.
With a trip to Italy the final act of the campaign, only a win will do against the Scandinavians to secure top two finish.
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