Coventry 'devastated' by Irish U21 penalty defeat

Republic of Ireland Under-21 captain Conor Coventry admitted that the squad were devastated after their defeat on penalties to Israel in the European Championships play-offs.

Jim Crawford's side battled their way to a scoreless draw after extra-time in Tel Aviv, following a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Tallaght.

Israel were dominant for much of the game after drafting senior players Liel Abada of Celtic, Maccabi Netanya midfielder Eden Karzev and Olympiacos defender Doron Leidner into their squad.

However Ireland gamely held them out and even had chances to snatch victory themselves with Aaron Connolly and Finn Azaz going close but it wasn’t to be and Israel emerged triumphant on penalties.

A devastated Republic of Ireland Under-21 captain Conor Coventry pays tribute to his team after their penalty play-off defeat to Israel #IRLU21 #COYBIG pic.twitter.com/aD4JpkoKQc

Israeli goalkeeper Daniel Peretz was the hero with three saves, but in truth the penalties of Tyreik Wright, Evan Ferguson and Dawson Devoy were poor, while Coventry managed to convert his.

"Obviously we’re devastated," Coventry told RTÉ Sport afterwards. "We’ve been on a great run and I’m really proud of the lads in there.

"It’s been a massive honour to captain them for this time and everything they’ve showed, their character and the amount of time we’ve been down and out and come back.

"The lads in there, some of them are still boys and to have the bottle to stand up there and take a penalty in front of so many fans.

"I’ve got massive respect for everyone in there, we fought and gave everything and I just love playing for this team.

"We gave everything and left everything out there. They were probably the better team tonight and we were the better team in Tallaght,