Paul Doolin's Ireland U23 team were beaten 1-0 at Gannon Park, Malahide on Tuesday. A single Anthony Stokes goal was all that separated the Senior team and the Airtricity League side.  Sligo Rovers' Padraig Amond had a goal disallowed for offside late in the game.

Shaun Williams and Keith Fahey

Manager Doolin said "It was a very useful exercise for us.  It was important to give the players some game-time together ahead of next Wednesday's match against England at the RSC. We gave everybody a run-out and we tried a few different systems as well. From the players point of view, it gave them an opportunity to meet each other and get used to each other's style.

"The result was never important, the match was always about performance. I thought we performed excellently throughout and it took a very good goal to defeat us. What we have to do now is build on that performance and make sure we are ready for England next Wednesday."

Ireland Under 23 bench

Republic of Ireland Seniors: Westwood, McShane, Cunningham, Duffy, O'Dea, Green, Stokes, Fahey, Sheridan, Best, Long

Substitutes (used): Lawrence, J. Murphy, Foley, Nolan

Substitutes (not used): B. Murphy

Republic of Ireland Under 23s: Darren Quigley (Sporting Fingal); Shaun Kelly (Dundalk), Conor Powell (Bohemians), Stephen Mulcahy (Cork City Foras Co-op) , Kenny Browne (Sporting Fingal); Stephen O'Donnell (Galway United), Karl Sheppard (Galway United), Shaun Williams (Sporting Fingal); Vinny Faherty (St Patrick's Athletic), Ronan Finn (Sporting Fingal), Billy Dennehy (Shamrock Rovers)

Substitutes (all used): Ian Bermingham (St Patrick's Athletic), Greg Bolger (UCD), James Chambers (Shamrock Rovers), Robert Duggan (Shamrock Rovers), Ross Gaynor (Dundalk), Gary McCabe (Sligo Rovers), Padraig Amond (Sligo Rovers), Paddy Madden (Bohemians)

Ref: Dave McKeon

Stephen O'Donnell escapes from Shane Long

The managers at full time