Celtic starlet Lee O’Connor has suffered Euro heartache this afternoon after a last-minute goal from Iceland downed his Republic of Ireland under-21 side.
Ireland’s 2-1 home defeat in their Euro under-21 qualification group meant that the Republic now sit third place in their group. If Italy win against Luxembourg this afternoon (and they’re 2-0 up at the time of writing), the Irish can no longer qualify.
But their hopes were dashed in agonising circumstances at the Tallaght Stadium today.
Iceland took the lead just before the 25-minute mark through Sveinn Aron Gudjohnsen, but O’Connor made a telling contribution to level things up. His cross from the right was touched goalwards by Joshua Kayode, whose effort found the net via a deflection.
Yet as the Republic pushed forward to try and find a late winner that would’ve sparked hopes of qualification for the Euro under-21 championships, they were hit with a late sucker punch. Vladimar Ingimundarson slotted home from a clever cut-back to bag a big three points for Iceland, with Ireland’s youngsters deflated.
O’Connor needs to pick himself up
It’s a hammer-blow for O’Connor, who was sent off in the previous match between the sides in Reykjavik. However, it’s important that he continues to look forward and try to pick himself up in the coming weeks.
So far, it’s been an extremely productive campaign from the Celtic youngster as he spends the season on loan with Tranmere Rovers. He’s played on 14 occasions now, and is clearly thriving in League Two (Transfermarkt).
But what he really needs to be asking himself now is why Jeremie Frimpong is ahead of him in the pecking order. He arrived along with Jeremie during the same window, and arguably came with the bigger reputation after a youth career with Manchester United. Yet it’s Frimpong who gets all the minutes.
O’Connor simply has to try and match what the current Celtic star is replicating in the coming years, because we could still do with some more quality depth at right-back. Especially with both Frimpong and Hatem Elhamed showing that they have a fair few injuries in them.
It would’ve been great for O’Connor to make the Euro Championships with the Ireland under-21s. However, he has to take stock of everything now and realise that he’s in a good place given his fine displays for Tranmere. There’ll be plenty more opportunities for international glory in the future.
Building on all he’s achieved so far this season must now be the main priority after a rough afternoon in the Tallaght today.
In other news, a former Celtic academy youngster has reportedly bagged a trial in Australia.
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