DEAF SPORTS Football deaflympics

Today was a day of reckoning as Ireland had to be content with a goalless draw against Japan, which resulted Ireland being first and USA second in their group, qualifying for the quarter finals at the expense of group opponents Great Britain and Japan.

As always the game started at a high level, battling for possession against the fast Japanese but the Irish always had the edge.

The game had plenty of pace and stamina in the first half as within the 8th minute Sinclair lashed a 20 yards over goal crossbar from Wynne's corner kick.

Johnson had best effort, curling wide a 20th-minute shot from a narrow angle while Japanese threatened again as their forward fired over from the edge of the penalty area.

As the conditions were hot the team were starved of service and support having little chance of producing an effective performance in the first half; not an appealing spectacle and the disruption from referee's errors caused frustration to both sides.

Ireland suffered an early setback as Stuart Foy hobbled with a leg injury off with just seven minutes before half time following a collision.

As the game came to one minute before half time, Daly, on his first Deaflympics appearance was sent on as a substitute replacing Foy with the game still remaining at 0-0

Coach Wilson told the team to play defensive and to shut down Japanese defence. He urged the boys to keep their heads up which saw the second half the defense tightening up and allowing the attack to press hard for a winner. It almost came when Wynne executed a free kick only to see the keeper equal to it.

In the second half Johnson's performance began to deteriorate, missing few chances and failing to latch onto a pass from Sinclair.

Meanwhile at the opposite end, Walsh was called into action when a Japanese shot came in from the right.

With time fast running out, Giglione sent on Derek Jordan to replace Johnson.

With 67th minutes gone by, a Jordan flick found its way to Byrne but the ball cannoned behind the goal net.

Giglione then sent on Miller, Man of the Match in Denmark friendly game in May, to replace Sinclair.

Lewis received a yellow card for an out-of-order tackle and prior to that Miller had a narrow angle to shoot but curled his left-footed effort wide of the far post.

Wynne was twice denied, who seemed to be the major operator at both ends of the field, fired from outside the penalty area but could only see his effort sail over the crossbar.

With three minutes left, Miller's foul at the edge of the penalty box led to a dangerous free kick being awarded to the Japanese.

However it was poorly executed and Wynne cleared it away with a header.

In the final point of the game, knowing GB had been knocked out the crowd was urging the referee to blow final whistle before any surprises could intervene! As the players found out they were delighted to win 1st place in to the quarter finals to Great Britain - the gold medal team from Melbourne Deaflympics 2005

Whilst there were no goals there were plenty of talking points, harshly without Watson and O Donnell they have taken 5 points from their opening 3 games, having conceded no goals to progress to the quarter finals.

Player of the Match: Andrew Wynne

Players:

• Walsh (GK)
• Foy
• Dougherty
• Dunne
• Wynne
• Johnson
• Byrne
• Sinclair
• Burns
• Lewis
• Moore

Subs:

• Daly for Foy
• Jordan for Johnson
• Miller for Sinclair