The Republic of Ireland Under 16 team met host nation France at the Stade Clerville this afternoon, in their second game of the Val de Marne International Tournament. The hosts were dominant throughout the encounter and Ireland were extremely fortunate to come away with a point from a 1-1 draw.

The physically imposing French team played with sublime skill and gave Ireland a torrid afternoon. France created several openings but did not succeed in breaching the Irish defence until the 29th minute when Guillaume Insou scored with a fine shot from the edge of the box. Ireland continued to defend stoutly with Charlton Athletic goalkeeper Kieran Thorpe producing several excellent saves.

The Irish central midfield duo of Conor McCormack and skipper James O'Brien worked tirelessly to stem the flow from the midfield attackers of France. The Irish strike force of Ian Daly and Craig Duggan had vitually no opportunity to display their skills but both battled gamely for the few scraps that came their way. With three minutes remaining, Home Farm starlet Daly was rewarded for his persistence when he capitalised on a mistake in the French defence to confidently fire a twenty yard shot into the bottom corner of the net for the equaliser.

Following the game, manager Vincent Butler conceded that Ireland had been outplayed by France, but through a combination of sheer hard work and a degree of luck had survived the French onslaught and took virtually their only chance to earn a point.

Ireland will now meet Norway, who went down 2-1 to Portugal in the other game of the afternoon, at 13.00hours (local time) on Saturday the 29th October. Should the top two, France and Portugal draw their encounter on Saturday afternoon then a 2 goal victory over Norway would give Ireland the Tournament victory.

Team
Kieran Thorp (Charlton Athletic)
Mark Nolan (Shelbourne), Paul Honohan (Wilton United), David Joyce (Castlebar Celtic), Niall McArdle (Home Farm)
Gary Frewen (St Michaels), Conor McCormack (Belurgan), James O'Brien (Cherry Orchard), James Doyle (Home Farm)
Ian Daly (Home Farm), Craig Duggan (Kilreen Celtic).

Substitutes
Dean Marshall (Shelbourne) for Frewen (51 minutes)
Michael Collins (Cherry Orchard) for Doyle (70 minutes).

Unused Substitutes
Kevin O'Brien (Douglas Hall), Conor Clifford (Crumlin United), Eric Foley (Home Farm),
Daniel Langan (Belvedere), Adrian Moyles (QPR.)