Azerbaijan U-17s lost to Ireland

Conor McCormack and Garreth Matthews provided the goals to assure victory and give Ireland a tremendous chance of reaching next year's Elite stage of the competition.

Ireland go into Thursday's last group game against Latvia knowing that a draw will guarantee them one of the two qualifying slots on offer. A win would secure top spot in the group.

The Irish drew 0-0 with Denmark in a tight group opener on Saturday but there was no doubting Ireland's supremacy against Azerbaijan.

They controlled the first half and took the lead on the stroke of half-time. Conor McCormack made a darting run from midfield, exchanging passes with striker Ian Daly along the way, and tucked the ball into the net with a shot from inside the penalty area.

Sean McCaffrey's team doubled their advantage 13 minutes into the second half. Joe Collins supplied a corner to the near post where Garreth Matthews beat his marker to head powerfully beyond the home side's goalkeeper.

Azerbaijan were unable to pose a threat for the remainder of the game and Ireland goalkeeper Kieron Thorpe, who was Ireland's man of the match against Denmark, was untroubled behind a well-marshalled defence.

Ireland manager Sean McCaffrey said: 'The lads were terrific today. They played well in the first half but were even better in the second half. The first goal came at a good time, just before half-time, and it was a great finish by Conor.'

'All of the players are exhausted after playing the two games,' added McCaffrey. 'We have a few days to rest before playing Latvia on Thursday and that should refresh them. They know what they have to do but we won't be underestimating Latvia.

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