The early autumn sunshine bore down once again on the Banninkov Stadium in Kiev when Sean McCaffrey's Ireland U17 team ran out to meet Latvia in their final UEFA Qualifying Group 2 fixture. Ireland needed only a draw to guarantee their progress to next 'Elite' qualifying round of the European Championship competition.

The team showed one change from the starting line up that faced Italy in their previous encounter with Nottingham Forest goalkeeper, Shane Redmond returning from injury to replace Paul Skinner. Ireland once again faced a physically imposing side in Latvia but the Irish team was in no way intimidated by the stature of their opponents.

Ireland dominated play from the outset with accurate passing and calm composure in retaining possession of the ball. The Irish boys created a series of opportunities but were not successful until the 35th minute when following a swift exchange of passes with Graham Carey, left sided midfielder Donal McDermott of Manchester City left three defenders in a spin with his intricate footwork before striking a beautiful right footed shot to the net.

Upon the resumption of the second half the Irish boys continued to dominate proceedings and maintained their discipline, organisation and shape which offered their opponents no opportunity whatever to score. A number of possible scoring opportunities were created by Ireland but were not converted until twenty five minutes into the half when a fine through ball from Sunderland defender Gavin Donoghue was chested down by substitute Terry Dixon, who had replaced Tom Lyons some ten minutes earlier, and driven fiercely into the net.

Ireland was now in absolute command and might have extended the lead in the final moments when Cillian Sheridan was fouled in the penalty area. The Cavan youngster took the kick himself but his shot clipped the post and went wide. the miss mattered little as Italy were held to a 2-2 draw by hosts Ukraine in the other Group encounter and so Ireland topped the Qualifying Group.

Manager Sean McCaffrey expressed his delight at the success of his young squad and praised their application, resilience and responsible attitude throughout the qualifying competition. Following on from this squad's recent success in lifting the Nordic Cup with four consecutive victories, the players have continued to improve and they together with McCaffrey and his support staff will look forward with eager anticipation to next 'Elite' qualifying phase of these Championships.

Team:

Shane Redmond (Nottingham Forest);
Andrew Callaghan (Millwall), Gavin Donoghue (Sunderland), Garry Breen (Manchester City), Lorcan Fitzgerald (West Ham United);
Paul Cahillane (Glasgow Celtic), Michael Daly (Cherry Orchard), Graham Carey (Glasgow Celtic), Donal McDermott (Manchester City);
Cillian Sheridan (Belvedere), Tom Lyons Crystal Palace).
Substitutes: Stephen Lawless (Cherry Orchard) for Daly 30 minutes, Terry Dixon (Tottenham Hotspur) for Lyons 55 minutes, Mark O'Toole (Tottenham Hotspur) for Cahillane 60 minutes.
Unused Substitutes: Paul Skinner (Glasgow Celtic), Shane Duggan (Fairview Rangers), Corie Treacy (Cherry Orchard).