Graham Gartland lifts the lid on the story behind Shamrock Rovers U15s' Ajax adventure

It's been an encouraging few weeks for the players in Shamrock Rovers' youth ranks.

In May, the Hoops provided five of the Republic of Ireland squad that impressed at the UEFA European Under-17 Championships.

Then on 18 June, the club's Under-15s earned a landmark 2-1 win over Dutch giants Ajax's youth academy in Amsterdam.

Former League of Ireland defender Graham Gartland coaches the side and speaking on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast, he explained how he managed to secure a fixture against one of the most iconic underage set-ups in world football and the beneficial nature of the match.

"It came about through a good friend of mine. Ajax is a really tough place to go into to get a game because they get so many requests from clubs that just think, 'We'd love to go to Ajax,'" he said.

"I wouldn't normally do this but I called in a favour from a really good friend of mine who got in touch with a prominent figure at Ajax and said, 'Listen, this is a really good team'.

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"The fact that he had seen some of our players play with the Ireland Under-17s, and the Under-16s in the Shield down in Waterford, he said, 'You have a good few players in that squad, Graham.'

"It was brilliant, they were very facilitating, Ajax, and very welcoming to us as coaches and all our players."

Ultimately the game was organised and Gartland was keen for his Rovers youngsters not to be over-awed, setting up his side in the 3-5-2 against Ajax's traditional 4-3-3.

"When I was playing underage for Ireland and you were coming