Courtesy: FAI.ie


Cyprus overcome Ireland in UEFA Futsal qualifier

Thursday, 19 February 2009

Republic of Ireland 0-2 Cyprus

The Republic of Ireland had a disappointing start to the UEFA Futsal Championship series tonight at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght as goals by Kostas Polyviou and Lambros Vassiliou gave Cyprus a deserved victory.

Dane Massey was lively for Ireland in the opening stages and he was close to putting them ahead but Cyprus took the initiative with the opener through Kostas Polyviou a minute before half-time.

The second half saw Ireland take the game to their opponents and Philip McDonagh, along with Dane Massey, might have brought them level with good chances that Anastasios Skampylis’ did well to save.

The second goal arrived eight minutes into the second period, Lambros Vassiliou tucking a low shot beneath Keith Gallagher in the Irish goal.

It looked like the Irish had reduced the deficit in the last minute when Dane Massey powered a close-range shot but Skampylis reacted well to stop the ball on the line.

REP OF IRELAND: John Perkins (Sporting Fingal Futsal), Mark Langtry (Unattached), Philip McDonagh (Drumcondra FC), Ian Byrne (Sporting Fingal Futsal), Gary McCabe (Bray Wanderers), Dane Massey (Bray Wanderers), Thomas Morgan (Sporting Fingal Futsal), Lloyd Massey (Shamrock Rovers), Alan Lynch (Unattached), Craig Duggan (Cork City), Brendan Dawson (Sporting Fingal Futsal), Alan Barrett (WFTA), Tony Kane (Sherrif YC).

CYPRUS: A. Skampylis, C. DIimitriadis, L Vassiliou, C. Chrysostomou, C. Dimitriou, C. Antoniou, I Papadopoulos, G. Georghiou, K. Polyviou, K. Mavroudis, K. Leivadiodis, L. Siikis.

REFEREE: A. Kancleris (Lithuania)


Results and Fixtures are as follows:

Thursday 19th February
England 2-5 Kazakhstan
Cyprus 2-0 Ireland




Courtesy: FAI.ie


Irish hopeful of positive result against England in tonight's Futsal qualifying match

Friday, 20 February 2009

Following a 2-0 defeat to a good Cypriot side last night, Ireland's goalkeeper John Perkins is hoping for a better result tonight (Friday) when Ireland play England in their second of three games in group A of the UEFA Futsal Championship preliminary qualifiers. Irish Futsal goalkeeper, John Perkins, doesn’t intend to let an English ball into the back of the Irish net tonight in what should be a great game of futsal. Any game against England is always charged with an air of excitement and for the Irish team, this match is the one they’ve looked forward to the most in group A.

The Republic took on England last December in Loughborough University with the game resulting in a thrilling 3-3 draw. Looking back at the game Perkins said, “We think we should have beaten them last December, we played really well but were a bit unlucky, their number 10 came on in the second half and scored an unbelievable goal against us. We’ll be hoping to put that right this time round.”

However, a tough match is anticipated between the sides, commenting on the strengths of his side, Perkins believes that, “We have some players on our team who can really take on a player and who have a great chance of scoring a goal for us. We’re tight at the back and we’ve shown that before in previous games. We just need to put our minds to it.”





Courtesy: FAI.ie


England suffer 2-0 loss at hands of stunning Irish futsal display

Friday, 20 February 2009

The Republic of Ireland enjoyed a stunning 2-0 victory against England tonight (Friday) in their second game of the UEFA Futsal Championship. Lloyd Massey scored a masterful goal for Ireland five seconds into the game. Ireland’s second goal came from Man of the Match, Philip McDonagh, with just over three minutes left on the clock in the second half. England put the Irish under pressure in the first half with plenty of shots at goal ensuring that the Irish keeper, John Perkins, was kept on his toes early in the game. Ireland Number 3, Dane Massey made some good attempts on the English goal as Ireland took control with aggressive attacks towards the end of the second half.

Ireland kept up the momentum after half time, with Gary McCabe causing the English problems with darting runs down the wing. Despite seconds counting down on the clock, the English did not give up hope, forcing the Irish defence to block several attempts at goal.

Republic of Ireland manager, Derek O’Neill said, “Tonight the team put in a magnificent display. We had a game plan from the start, we stuck to it and it paid off. I’m delighted for the players who have put in a lot of hard work over the past couple of months. We will now go into Sunday’s decider against favourites Kazakhstan with confidence.”

Republic of Ireland go into Sunday’s match against Kazakhstan joint second with Cyprus in the qualifying group after Kazakhstan beat Cyprus by three goals to nil earlier today.

REP OF IRELAND: John Perkins (Sporting Fingal Futsal), Mark Langtry (Unattached), Philip McDonagh (Drumcondra FC), Ian Byrne (Sporting Fingal Futsal), Gary McCabe (Bray Wanderers), Dane Massey (Bray Wanderers), Thomas Morgan (Sporting Fingal Futsal), Lloyd Massey (Shamrock Rovers), Alan Lynch (Unattached), Craig Duggan (Cork City), Brendan Dawson (Sporting Fingal Futsal), Alan Barrett (WFTA), Tony Kane (Sherrif YC).

ENGLAND: Dean Thornton, Ben Mortlock, Kyle Joryeff, Douglas Reed, Thomas Obasi, Byron Andrew, Nicholas Colley, Luke Ballinger, Aaron Cato, Robert Ursell, Hussein Isa, Curtis Holmes.

REFEREE: Gabor Kovacs (HUN)








Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com