Northern Ireland’s junior international team put in a five-star performance against Albania in a UEFA Regions’ Cup intermediate round tie today.
Harry McConkey’s side were 2-0 up at the break, however a late flurry of goals saw them win the game by five goals to nil.
The fixture was switched to Arena Egnatia in Rrogozhine from the House of Football in Tirana, the Albanian capital. Their opponents were a team chosen from across Albania.
Eastern Region (representing Northern Ireland) played superbly in their final game in the four-team Group 6 mini tournament staged in Albania over the past week.
Junior international manager McConkey made five changes to the line-up that started the 2-2 draw with West Slovakia (representing Slovakia) in Northern Ireland’s second game in the mini tournament.
Gerard Walker replaced Lewis Hunter in nets, while defenders John Mahoney and Gareth Henderson along with midfielder Paul Donnelly and attacker Kyle Woods came in to the team.
Also dropping to the bench were defenders Thomas McNeill and Mark Lyons along with midfielder Mick Byrne and attacker Matty Herron.
The opening period of the game was pretty scrappy, with both teams conceding free-kicks.
Albania’s Romeo Pillati got in behind the Northern Ireland defence but was flagged for being offside. And Kyle Woods thought he had broken the Albanians’ offside trap on a couple of occasions, but he was also adjudged to be offside.
Both sides huffed and puffed before Northern Ireland made the breakthrough on 25 minutes. Attacker Charlie Dornan provided the assist and defender Sam Dinu applied the finish to make it 1-0.
Two minutes later attacker Jonny Ewart forced Albania keeper Klaudio Blloshmi into a save.
In the 35th minute Ewart put an effort wide as McConkey’s side continued to press.
Northern Ireland keeper Gerard Walker was called into action three minutes later to keep out an attempt by the Albanians.
On 39 minutes Ewart teed up defender John Mahoney and he netted Northern Ireland’s second goal of the game.
In added time in the first half midfielder Paul Donnelly’s shot was saved by Blloshmi and Dinu dragged an effort wide of the target.
Pillati swept a shot past the post as Albania tried to get back into the game early in the second half, however the first clearcut chance after the restart fell to Ewart, whose strike was saved by Blloshmi.
Woods got on the end of a Donnelly corner but could not keep his attempt on target. And defender Curtis Brown missed a chance, too.
Walker had to make a couple of saves in quick succession, first from substitute Eldi Gjuzi and then from Pillati.
McConkey made a triple substitution midway through the half which gave fresh energy to his side. Defenders Leon Lavery and Thomas McNeill entered the fray alongside striker Matty Herron. Brown, Mahoney and Woods made way for them.
The next chance though fell to Albania midfielder Stiven Memoci, although he failed to test the keeper.
Lavery was quickly in the thick of it. He had an effort saved by Blloshmi, who subsequently had to leave the field after sustaining an injury. He was replaced by Eness Hoxha in nets.
Hoxha’s first action was to prevent Donnelly from adding to Northern Ireland’s tally. And then he thwarted a Lavery effort.
On 84 minutes, however, Northern Ireland grabbed a third. Substitutes Herron and Lavery combined, with Lavery finding the net.
Dinu steered an effort wide before Lavery turned provider for fellow sub McNeill to make it 4-0 in the 89th minute.
Northern Ireland were not finished yet. Lavery was the provider again and this time he provided the assist for Herron to score.
The 5-0 win was a fine way for McConkey’s side to end the tournament.
Following a 2-0 defeat to Piemonte Valle d'Aosta Regional FA (representing Italy) in game one, they were not able to win Group 6 in the intermediate round to advance to the final tournament in the summer of 2027.
Instead West Slovakia will be at the finals. They defeated the Italians 1-0 today thanks to an 89th minute goal from captain Michal Hrenak to top the group with seven points, while Italy finished with six points and Northern Ireland with four. Albania ended their campaign without any points.
Albania: Klaudio Blloshmi, Gersi Merepeza, Xhonaldo Prenga, Romeo Pillati, Aldi Pjetri, Olsi Sokoli (captain), Klejti Mamutaj, Ronaldo Alillari, Klodian Shehu, Albis Dajti, Stiven Memoci.
Substitutes: (used) Exhei Kola, Albi Alushi, Eldi Gjuzi, Eness Hoxha (GK), Eduart Kora; (unused) Marsel Koromani, Klajdi Shini.
Northern Ireland: Gerard Walker, Curtis Brown, John Mahoney, Sam Dinu, Gareth Henderson, Richard Gowdy (captain), Kyle Woods, Paul Donnelly, Jonathan Ewart, Patrick Downey, Charlie Dornan.
Substitutes: (used) Leon Lavery, Matty Herron, Thomas McNeill, Mark Lyons, Seamus Duffy; (unused) Mick Byrne.
