Northern Ireland

1-0

England

 Bradley 16

 

UEFA Regions' Cup
Intermediary Round
Group 4 Qualifying Tournament
Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Saturday 21 April 2007

England's Regions' Cup campaign ended on Sunday as a 1-0 defeat to Northern Ireland sent them out of the competition and put their opponents into the Finals this summer.

The Isle of Man League, our representatives in the competition after their success in last year's FA National League System Cup, went into their last Group 4 qualifier knowing that they needed to win to stand any chance of reaching Bulgaria in June.

Chris Bass had the game's first real chance and could have put England in charge but his shot lacked composure as he blazed over from the edge of the area when well placed.

Then, just after the quarter-hour mark, England's game plan was ripped up as the Irish went in front. The Three Lions' defence failed to deal with a deep cross from the left and the ball fell to Liam Bradley on the edge of the area who hooked the ball over his shoulder and into the net.

With news coming through that the other group game was all square, Kevin Manning's side now needed two goals to qualify and they went into the second half full of energy. On 53 minutes Nick Hurt found himself clear inside the area but volleyed wide then six minutes later was again handed a golden opportunity to level the scores, but failed to get the shot off and the chance was gone.

And so the Isle of Man’s Euro adventure came to an end. In a qualifying group that contained four evenly match sides it was perhaps the first half performances against Slovakia and Northern Ireland that ultimately let them down. No one could fault their effort and commitment and it is hoped that the players learned from their experiences both in the Czech Republic and from their earlier fixtures in the Republic of Ireland and San Marino.

Following the game, Manning praised his player’s efforts during the week: “In my opinion we were the better of the four sides and could easily have come away with three wins based upon our second half performances.

"I cannot put my finger on why we have started so slowly in our three games as this has cost us the opportunity to progress to The Finals”

Manning added: “It has been an unbelievable experience for everyone. We need to re-group and concentrate on The FA National League System Cup next season as we would love to experience this competition again.”

Click here for the table and match schedule...

England Squad
Mark Blair (Laxey FC), Grant Dawson (Ayre Utd FC), Daniel Lace (Peel FC), Kevin Megson (Peel FC), Julian Ringham (St George’s FC) Mark Teare (Douglas Royals FC), Nigel Shimmin (Peel FC), Sean Quaye (St George’s FC), Chris Bass (St George’s FC), James Travers (Laxey FC), Paul Jones (Rushen Utd FC), Nick Hurt (Peel FC), Lee Dixon (St Mary’s FC), Callum Morrisey (St George’s FC), John Myers (St George’s FC), Ross Williamson (Laxey FC), Martin Reilly (St Mary’s FC) and Michael Hooper (Douglas High School OB FC)

You can follow the progress of the team throughout the week here on TheFA.com...

Photos: Phil Mingo (Pinnacle)