Barry Coffey and luckless Ireland exit Euro's with heads held high

The Republic of Ireland Under 19's journey in the European Championships in Armenia ended in disappointment last Wednesday when they were defeated 4-0 in the semi-final by Portugal.

Off the back of his winning goal in the final group game against the Czech Republic which secured Ireland's place in the last four, Nenagh's Barry Coffey was selected in the starting line-up for the first time in the tournament after coming off the bench against Norway, France and the Czech's in the group stage.

However, things didn't go to plan as a depleted Ireland were comprehensively beaten by the defending champions who were vastly more experienced with many players with first team exposure at club level.

However, the final scoreline doesn't tell the full story of a game where Ireland created many terrific chances but didn't take any of them.

There wasn't much between the teams in the early exchanges until Vitor Ferreira was gifted the opportunity to open the scoring from the penalty spot just past the half hour mark.

Ireland attempted to hit back and they almost did just that. Firstly, Barry Coffey had an effort somehow cleared off the goal line before Mark McGuinness smashed a shot against the crossbar. Those missed chances hurt Ireland as they conceded again, just before the half-time whistle, when Goncalo Ramos found himself free at the back post to head in.

An injury to Ciaran Brennan forced a slight tactical shift in the second half and Ireland continued to play some good football but Portugal killed them off with Ramos netting twice to send his team back to the final.