They knew that a single goal defeat to the hosts may have been enough to reach the finals in Bulgaria in May and with Greece drawing 0-0 with Belarus in the other fixture the Irish finished second and clinched qualification.The Poles were determined to make up for their two defeats in their opening fixtures against the Greeks and Belarus. Poland opened the scoring in the tenth minute when PaweÅ‚ Kaczmarczyk turned the ball home from close range..

"It was a hard battle and we would have loved to get a result but we're delighted to progress to the finals," said Mohan.

"It's a massive group effort from staff, players - four lads couldn't come here this week through injuries - but the lads on the pitch did fantastic work. Everybody has just been fantastic.".

"It's good for football in Ireland and for the people who work with developing these players. It's great reward for the players, their clubs, families and the FAI and grassroots football across the country. These boys have delivered.

"It is also very pleasing to note that we had five home-based players in our squad which shows what work has been done around the country.

The Irish U17s last played in the UEFA Finals in 2008.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Kelleher, O'Keeffe, Lunney (Stokes 41), Masterson, Leahy, Hanney, Barrett, Ronan, Clarke (Levingston 71), Wade-Slater (Elbouzedi 55), Aherne.

RESULTS

Saturday, March 21, 2015

UEFA U17 Championships Elite Qualifying Round Group 4

Republic of Ireland 2-2 Greece, Amica, Wronki (POL)

Monday, March 23, 2015

UEFA U17 Championships Elite Qualifying Round Group 4

Belarus 1-3 Republic of Ireland, Amica, Wronki (POL)

Thursday, March 26, 2015

UEFA U17 Championships Elite Qualifying Round Group 4

Republic of Ireland 0-1 Poland, Groclin Dyskobolia, Grodzisk Wielkopolski (POL)