England U21s suffered their first defeat against their Republic of Ireland counterparts as they went down 3-1 in Cork, with Tommy Lonergan scoring twice for the hosts.
Lee Carsley’s men had already qualified for Euro 2027 as Group D winners, but Ireland were vying for a play-off spot, which they successfully secured when their deserved win at Turner’s Cross moved them into second place at the expense of Slovakia on head-to-head record.
It was England’s only defeat of their qualifying campaign and they paid the price for their defensive weaknesses, although the early signs were promising.
They took the lead in the eighth minute when Divin Mubama’s shot deflected off the face of the goal and fell to Tyler Dibling, who hit the target with his first touch.
However, some of the energy was drained from their play and in the 22nd minute a defensive error invited Ireland into their own goal.
The ball was passed to Sydie Peck but he was caught in possession and Ireland reacted immediately to the opportunity, Rory Finneran passing to Lonergan who picked his spot and produced a delightful finish.
The home side took the lead when Conor McManus sent the ball in at the near post after Trent Koné-Doherty was allowed to break free in the left area.
Koné-Doherty continued to cause England problems slowly to close it out, but Carsley’s men were desperately closed just before half-time when Mubama was kept out by Noah Jauny.
Ireland were growing in confidence as their opponents became more and more flat and they went 3-1 up in the 63rd minute when Lonergan added his second after a poor move into the box.
Once again England had been slow to respond but in the 72nd minute they were denied by the post when Will Lankshear pulled the trigger amid a late attack that also saw Tyrique George kept out by a superb save from Jauny.
