Sligo’s Owen Elding was a late second-half substitute in the Republic of Ireland’s 1-0 loss to Kosovo in their Nations League Group 3 opener in Pristina on Thursday night.
The Hibs striker, who only recently received his Irish passport, was sprung from the bench in the 87th minute as Ireland chased a lat equaliser on a night when Ireland produced a poor team performance.
A goal by Muriqi for Kosovo in the last 10 minutes was all that separated the two sides
Austria won 3-1 against Israel in the other group – which means Ireland sit third in group G on goal difference
Ireland now turn their attention to Debrecen in Hungary this Sunday evening where they are due to play the first of two fixtures against Israel (7:45pm).
(Photo by Inpho’s Ryan Byrne)