National cup

National Stadium
Spectators: 14377 (Terracing: 10000, Seating: 4027, VIP seats: 350) When Beara Frankson fell near the penalty area in the 3rd minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored U21 Ireland's protests and gave Beara Frankson a yellow card for diving instead. In the 3rd match minute, U21 Ireland was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Beara Frankson to maneuver through the defense. U21 Kuwait's Gawhar Jiragh played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Eoghan McJon in the 5th minute of play. After 7 minutes U21 Kuwait's defender was forced to head the ball over the line for a corner. It was Gilbert Kirby who took care of the corner kick. After taking down the ball on U21 Ireland's corner Gilbert Kirby fired away a hard shot, but the defenders efficiently covered the most dangerous angles and Gawhar Jiragh quite easily take care of the ball. 8 minutes into the match, U21 Ireland's goal looked a bit too open when Mazen Al Mahmed came free, but Basil McSteven reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. With an all-out effort, U21 Ireland's Gawhar Jiragh threw himself towards the right post 10 minutes into the match and grabbed hold of the ball from Robert Delaney, which otherwise would have been placed in the net. A collision led to U21 Kuwait getting a freekick after 10 minutes play. Meshal Buffon hit a great ball. Eoghan McJon came free with the goalkeeper in the 13th minute of the match, and shot straight on target. The shot was a little too simple and Gawhar Jiragh could save by the left post. Payton Holt's shot from long distance was a real pearl which went to the right and just passed Gawhar Jiragh - 1-0 was put on the score board in the 14th minute. Gawhar Jiragh showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Robert Delaney in the 18th minute of the match. After some fancy dribbling in the 23rd minute, Diego Maradona managed to get in a good position for a shot. U21 Ireland's supporters rose to their feet, but Diego Maradona was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Gawhar Jiragh breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Diego Maradona kicked well hit freekick during the 25th minute of the match. Basil McSteven showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Anthony Martial in the 25th minute of the match. In the 27thth minute of the game Robert Delaney who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but U21 Kuwait's Gawhar Jiragh was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. In the 31st play minute Eoghan McJon came free and shot an unsuspected shot which went into goal from the right pole behind a surprised Gawhar Jiragh. 2-0. The supporters of U21 Ireland booed when U21 Kuwait was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 35 match minutes in a wonderful position. Osama Al Harban didn't get a good kick on the ball. The crowd rose to their feet as Eoghan McJon kicked a wonderful shot that went in to the left of a diving Gawhar Jiragh. That made the score 3-0 in the 39 minute of play. Meshal Buffon hit a great freekick 46 minutes into the match. Basil McSteven showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Nizar Al Sharaf in the 48th minute of the match.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Eoghan McJon to make the kick off. After having played for 51 minutes, Eoghan McJon managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. U21 Ireland's supporters crossed their fingers, but Eoghan McJon was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Osama Al Harban hit a great freekick 54 minutes into the match. 55 minutes into the match, Eoghan McJon had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Gawhar Jiragh. U21 Kuwait's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Eoghan McJon was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 4-0. In the 62nd minute of the match U21 Ireland got a corner. U21 Kuwait's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Gilbert Kirby ran over to the corner to take the kick. Robert Delaney made a great header on U21 Ireland's corner, it was just that U21 Kuwait's Gawhar Jiragh managed to reach the ball for a save. Anthony Martial sent away a hard shot on goal in the 66th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Gawhar Jiragh made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Eoghan McJon in the 69th minute of play. In the 71stth minute of the game Eoghan McJon who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but U21 Kuwait's Gawhar Jiragh was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. Payton Holt charged in rather forcefully in the 75th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Payton Holt the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. In the 75th match minute, U21 Ireland was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Payton Holt to maneuver through the defense. The supporters of U21 Kuwait booed when U21 Ireland was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 76 match minutes in a wonderful position. Payton Holt didn't get a good kick on the ball. Basil McSteven made an important save on a dangerous shot by Adnan Al Jarah in the 77th minute. After 80 minutes U21 Ireland's defender was forced to head the ball over the line for a corner. It was Adnan Al Jarah who took care of the corner kick. An unexpectedly hard shot by Eoghan McJon in the 84th minute of play forced U21 Kuwait's goalkeeper Gawhar Jiragh to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Fayez Al Hajri kicked well hit freekick during the 84th minute of the match. Gawhar Jiragh didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Alessandro Del Piero went, in the 90th minute, to the upper right corner, 5-0 was the resulting score. In the 94th match minute, U21 Ireland was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Diego Maradona to maneuver through the defense. If Bahaa Al Hajraf had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 95th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. The referee blew his whistle, and the match came to a close. The players exchanged shirts and headed down the tunnel. The U21 Ireland fans cheered their team off the field, for while U21 Kuwait had put up a good fight, they were unable to come out of the game with any points to show for their effort.