England v Ireland Select
FX Cup Memorial Game for Graham Tutt.
- Location: Atlanta, Georgia
- Stadium: Silverbacks Park
- Date: Saturday 10th December
- Kick-off Time: 16:15 EST
- VAR: Did not want it
- Referee: Joe Mugganauts
There was no way to see this event on TV & live stream
England vs Ireland H2H Results (Last Five Games)
Ireland: 2 Wins
England: 3 Wins
Draws: 0
England Team News
A bunch of England`s finest fell to the evil drink, they had just cause with a world cup quarter final where they dominated, going against them with a penalty miss seven minutes before time. The lads were drowning sorrows and as a result were tight on numbers as we proceeded to the field
Many of their key players were stuck because parking was sparse in Silverbacks and the event was packed so eventually we saw many filter in.
England lineup vs Ireland
England Starting 11 (4-4-2) Redmond, Wright, Peacock, Fordham, O`Hare; Clarke, McNabb, Wademan, Chapman; Pollard, Donovan.
Bench: Jeb Smith, Carey Wilson, Anthony Riley, Quique Lopez.
Ireland team news
Brian Mooney missed the trip to Atlanta after informing his captain his bad knees just would not work under any amount of persuasion and highly unlikely if he flew in for the weekend – would love to try next time but Golf had to be part of the equation. A familiar story for all of our squad.
Doubts lingered over three of Irelands lethal weapons Steve Renwick who had to attend to family matters, Tom Whitty who banjaxed his knee and John Drummond who had family commitments also, all have a chance of featuring in this fixture next year .
Donlan has been sidelined since limping off against Hammers at the start of October 2021 but returned to some form of training on Wednesday. Whether he will be tossed straight into the starting XI remained to be seen. There was little doubt…
The Two O`Briens were late casualties of work and fatigue – Next year is an opportunity for these lads to shine
Ireland lineup vs England
Ireland Starting 11 (3-4-3): Shannon; Donlan, Meenan, Hayes, Kealy; Kierans, Cormac; O Donnell, Moran, Kenny; Dixon
Bench: Smith, Hiott, Leone, Burke, Brennan, O`Brien, O`Brien, Renwick
England vs Ireland score
England 2-3 Ireland
England played a tough Ireland select team at Silverbacks Part on Saturday, They were a little distracted when the England juniors were in a tight game with the French in the World Cup that ended in heartbreak for them. Steve O`Hare on top of organizing the Father Christmas event was left with the task of mustering all of the England talent and getting it on the field at the right time.
Irelands reputation is that it is a strong team that is tricky to defeat. The Irish bounced into the contest with the bit between their teeth. Paul McQuaid and Ray Treacy the solid management team their umpteenth game in charge of the Green machine on Saturday afternoon. There was a confident air as we saw the limited numbers from England and knew we had a lot of subs.
After the last game of this series over five years ago, the English had won on that occasion 2-1. Defeat for this encounter was out of the question.
First Half
England 0-2 Ireland
Ireland gave their hopes of winning the Father Christmas Cup an significant boost with a dramatic and strong first half performance
England certainly looked the more dangerous side early on, winning the possession battle in the opening 15 minutes, Neil McNabb looking particularly dangerous from the midfield but they struggled to carve out a clear-cut chance.
Then came the Ireland attack and Moran broke the deadlock after some poor defending from England allowed the ball to drop in the box, with the Irish forward firing home.
A fine whipped ball from Noel Kierans that the keeper appeared to be shepherding to the all action Antony Fordham but it never materialized and Dixon then latched onto it and rolled it into the net to double the Irelands lead before the break to leave England with a mountain to climb.
The Irish defense has settled in well and started to boss proceedings in the first-half limiting England to long range efforts that Shannon had little difficulty with. Lar Hayes and Les Meenan taking turns to run at the England defenders and provide quality balls for Noel Kierans, Robin Dixon, Kevin Moran, Cormac and the ever lively JohnJoe Kenny they were supported by a constant feed of subs with standout passing and control from Sam Burke, Hiott Leone and Brennan. Pete Kealy was a constant threat and was being fed from the back by Paddy Donlan. It was
Second Half
The old cliché it was a game of two halves would have to get rolled out here England got a strangle hold on the game with fine running from Trevor Donnovan keeping the back line on it toes in combination with Anthony Riley, Ryan Pollard and Martin Clarke being the main providers of the through balls. There was the neat Campbell Chapman urging the team forward. Tony Peacock and Kenny Wright all starting some promising moves for the Three Lions. Steve O`Hare`s fine delivery into the box was cut out by Paddy Donlan with an unnatural stretch of the leg that ricocheted of his hand and the previously unwilling referee provided England with a golden opportunity to get back into the game. Campbell Chapman did his best Beckham impression and put it in the bottom lefthand corner to change the game. Then within 10 minutes the lethal Jeb Smith was in the right spot to finish neatly on the edge of the box after a lightening break that had a touch of everything with Reilly Pollard O’Hare and Donovan all involved. The game was level and both teams sensed they could win it. England had the first chance and produced a fine save from Ennis Shannon who had a fine game for the Irish. IT was a lot of back and forth with both teams playing some fine football being urged on from Captain O’Hare and Captain Donlan to play flowing attractive football. In the spirit of this the Goal was a fine team goal starting from and interchange between Les Meenan and Lar Hayes with a delicate pass to Pete Kealy who put a dangerous ball on to Jason Smith he in turn found Robin Dixon who passed it on to Kevin Moran he passed it to the path of the surging Noel Kierans who had a neat cruff like turn of the English defense side stepping the keeper and thumping the ball home the roar of the lads told the story there was still enough time for Webby to make the save of the day at full stretch that had the Irish team do a double take in disbelief what a stop it would have been very unfair as it was a great tight game graced with a lot of memorable moments. Thank you to all who participated and we will be back to do it all again next year.
