Ireland kicked off their Slovenia Cup campaign, the first of two friendly tournaments in two months in preparation for November’s UEFA Under-19 Championship qualifiers, with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of a heavily talent-laden French side.

Unnerved by the task at hand early on, the excellent young Boys in Green looked comfortable in possession and pressed aggressively high up the field in an evenly matched early opening period.

As the half progressed it was Jean-Luc Vannuchi’s side who carried a little more threat, finding their rhythm and earned a couple of set-pieces that Celtic stopper Marcus Gill was equal to.

French left winger Tidiane Diallo looked a real threat throughout, showing good pace and close control to create danger at every opportunity, and it was the RC Strasbourg man who helped create the opener for his side with 25-minutes played.

The talented 18-year old drove forward before cleverly cutting back to Ismail Bouneb, who found a yard of space in the area, before side footing home, first time from 12 yards.

Going behind gave the Irish side the impetus to come out and play. Ireland’s own talented wide player, Naj Razi, became more involved, as Romeo Akachukwu tried to dictate play looking a cut above as the Irish finished the half stronger.

Following a similar theme to the first half, France looked to keep the ball and frustrate but to their credit the Irish side continued to work tirelessly to try level.

On the hour mark, and with confidence building, Malaga CF man Aaron Ochoa Moloney burst forward down the left wing, driving to the edge of the area at speed but failed to control his effort that flew wide.

A triple substitution from Les Bleus seemed to halt the Irish momentum and re-energise the French. With 20-minutes remaining Sylla hit a lovely curling left footed strike that crashed the post before his side were awarded a penalty in somewhat dubious circumstances to say the least.

Ibrahim Traore flew down the left side before cutting in on his right foot, seemingly overrunning the ball allowing Irish centre back Freddie Turley to clear to safety. But after a big scream from the attacker, alleging he was caught in the clearance, convinced the referee to point to the spot.

Omar Sissoko saw his penalty brilliantly saved by Gill but as the ball spilled back out towards the onrushing blue jerseys on the follow up, and under pressure, Gill tried to punch the ball clear and into his own net.

Following a raft of substitutions by Tom Mohan, the Irish fought back to half the deficit with four minutes remaining as three substitutes combined excellently. Jacob Devaney’s clever ball over the top found the pacey Aaron Mcloughlin who was too sharp for keeper Paul Agney who brought him down.

Cian Dillon showed no hesitation in smashing the ball high and left sending the keeper the wrong way on his international debut

Unfortunately time ran out for the unlucky Irish on this occasion but will take massive confidence at how they performed overall against one of the top sides in their age group. 

Ireland: Marcus Gill, Stan Ashbee, Jake Grant (John O’Sullivan, 76'), Cory O’Sullivan (Harry McGlinchey, 76') ), Freddie Turley, Cathal O’Sullivan (Jacob Devaney, 76') Danny McGrath (Kaylem Harnett, 76'), Aaron Ochoa Moloney (Cian Dillon, 67’), Romeo Akachukwu (Aaron McLaughlin, 76'), Naj Razi (Ryan Kelly, 85’), Sean Patton (Luke Kehir, 67’)

France: Paul Argney, Yoram Zague, Nhoa Sangui, Dayann Methalie, Nolan Ferro, Fode Sylla, Joan Tincres, Ismael Bouneb, Tidiam Gomis, Yvann Titi, Tidiane Diallo