- OUR PARTNERS
Ireland Under 16's began the match excellently, scoring twice in the opening ten minutes. Ben McCormack opened the scoring in the seventh minute, before Louie Barry scored his first of the game a minute later.
Despite leading 2-0, Ireland went in level at the break, after conceding twice in the final 15-minutes of the first-half. Martin Smolenski scored from close range, before Dimitar Ivanov scored just before the break from a corner.
Paul Osam's side retook the lead after the break inside 60-seconds. Billy Vance scored to make it 3-2 to the visitors before Barry scored his second goal two minutes later.
Ireland ended the game with ten men, as Ronan Kilkenny was sent off for two yellow cards with 15-minutes left. Despite that, Osam's side held out to record the win.
Under-16 Head Coach Paul Osam said his side could have won the game by a bigger margin.
"We could have been leading 4-0 after 20-minutes. Louie Barry was electric. His pace caused Bulgaria plenty of problems.
"We played the final period with ten men. Ronan was very unlucky to get sent off. The team coped brilliantly playing 10 v 11. We had the better of the chances, playing with a man less.
The teams meet once more on Thursday, in Sofia. Kick-off is at 3pm (Irish time).
Republic of Ireland: Josh Keeley; Gavin O'Brien (Fionnan Coyle 55), Oisin Hand, Anselmo Garcia MacNulty, Ronan Kilkenny; Kyle Conway, Lee Harkin (Colin Conroy 55), Ben McCormack (Andrew Morgan 67); Billy Vance, Louie Barry (Calum Kavanagh 72), Roland Banya (Daniel Gildea 55).
After Wales' 1-0 win on Sunday in Longford, Galway's Eamonn Deacy Park hosted yesterday's match as Tom Mohan's side continue their preparations for the 2019 UEFA Under-19 European Championship Qualifying Round.
The game saw both sides get a penalty in the space of the opening 15-minutes. Irish goalkeeper George McMahon saved the Welsh penalty, before Aaron Connolly saw his penalty saved by Callum James minutes later.
Those two penalties were the best chances of the opening period, as the teams went into the break scoreless.
Ireland started the second-half much brighter and deservedly took the lead through Aaron Connolly. The Galway native got his head on the end of a Jordan Doherty shot to give the home side the lead in his hometown.
Substitute Gavin Kilkenny wrapped up the win in the final minutes, with a fine finish to give Tom Mohan's side the 2-0 victory.
Speaking after the game, Under-19 Head Coach Tom Mohan was delighted to put the disappointment of Sunday's defeat behind the team.
"We should have won on Sunday. It was important to take the chances today, when they came.
