Rep of Ireland 3 England 1

Waterford FC striker Tommy Lonergan continued his fine international form with a double strike to make it four goals in three games for Ireland Under 21’s as they came from behind to beat England 3-1 in front of a sell out crowd at Turners Cross to book their place in the Euro U21 playoffs.

With England already safely through to next summer’s finals in Albania and Serbia, the Irish needed to match the Slovakia result to make it to the playoffs.

But their task was made all the harder when they found themselves behind after just eight minutes when Tyler Dibling took advantage of a deflection to score at the back post with a simple tap in.

However, Ireland maintained their composure and gradually hauled themselves back into the game before Lonergan levelled the game fourteen minutes later . He was sent away down the right by Rory Finneran and into the area, rifling a shot across Tommy Setford and into the opposite corner.

The second arrived seven minutes before the break, when a quick break saw Ireland’s Trent Kone-Doherty away down the left and his perfectly weighted pass found Conor McManus who drilled it past Setford at his near post.

And Lonergan make the game safe when he blasted home from close range on 63 minutes after a Sean Grehan long throw was deflected into his path by Kone-Doherty.

An injury time goal saw Slovakia secure a 2-1 victory over Andorra and with the teams level on points, Ireland progressed by virtue of their head to head record and will know their playoff opponents when the draw is made on Friday.