Frustration for wasteful U21s as they're held by Latvia

Republic of ireland U21s 2-2 Latvia U21s

Republic of Ireland Under-21s were held to a frustrating home point against a tricky Latvian side at a sunny Tallaght Stadium.

Sinclair Armstrong thought he had set Ireland on their way but two lapses in concentration saw Ireland fall behind, with Sean Roughan levelling in a clash that the young Irish stars will feel they should have put to bed earlier in proceedings.

The visitors, although fifth seeds in the group, had already shown they are not to be taken lightly having beaten Turkey and pushed the Irish all the way previously.

Jim Crawford made just two changes to the side that arrived back from istanbul on Saturday with Ollie O’Neill and Rocco Vata coming in for Aidomo Emakhu and Connor O’Riordan

And it was the former on-loan Derry City man, O’Neill, who went closest just three minutes in. Following an intricate move down the right, the ball sat up kindly for O’Neill but was quickly suffocated.

Having been pressed high early on, Ireland began to find their groove down the left hand side, with the rampaging Sean Roughan going close to the near top corner straight after.

And just after a quarter of an hour the breakthrough did come when Vata picked up a loose ball in the middle and burst forward at the heart of the Latvian defence.

Ireland 1-0 Latvia: Ireland's early pressure pays off as Sinclair Armstrong scores on the rebound to give the Under-21s a deserved lead.