Ireland, Azerbaijan U-17s move to the next stage

Second-half goals by Michael Collins after 47 minutes and Ian Daly on 69 minutes earned Ireland the win that advances them into the Elite qualifying stage of the competition, to be played in March of next year.

This season's U17 European Championship Finals will be staged in Belgium during May 2007.

Sean McCaffrey's team knew beforehand that a draw would give them the point they needed to clinch one of the two qualifying places on offer but a win would ensure they finished top of the group.

Ireland went into the game after a scoreless draw with Denmark in their opening match of this mini-tournament and a comprehensive 2-0 win over hosts Azerbaijan.

The first half produced few chances but Ireland asserted their control on the match after the break and took a deserved lead. A piece of brilliance by Liverpool's Michael Collins seven minutes into the second half broke the deadlock when he escaped his marker before lobbing the ball over the advancing 'keeper from the edge of the penalty area.

Substitute Simon Dunne caused problems for the Latvians when he was introduced as a striker with 20 minutes remaining. His header found Conor McCormack in space and the Manchester United midfielder fed Ian Daly, who had time to fire the ball into the net with precision.

It was Azerbaijan who clinched the second qualifying spot on offer after their scoreless draw against Denmark also played yesterday. The Danes came into the qualifiers highly-fancied after their Nordic Cup triumph in the summer and their strong display against Ireland last Saturday suggested they were on course for qualification but their elimination was confirmed yesterday.

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