Goals in either half from Darren Dunne and Paul Breen were enough to give the Irish side victory over South Moravia from the Czech Republic and their final berth was secured when Turkish side Ankara came from behind to beat Bosnia’s Tulza Canton 2-1 in the other Group A.
Eastern Region will now face Tulza on Wednesday in Tallaght Stadium (19:00). Even if the Bosnia side, who have lost both their games, defeat the Irish and there is a winner in the other game between Ankara and South Moravia to produce a tie on six points at the top of the table Gerry Smith’s side will prevail on the head to head rule.
A delighted Smith said after today’s game: “I am very proud of all the players and the staff for the work that was put in. It is fantastic for Irish football to reach a UEFA final. We did it in 2011 so two finals in four years is great and hopefully we can go one better than we did in Portugal. Some of the players have played over 60 games this season so it has taken a great physical effort to get through these games. It means I can rest a few players on Wednesday and give some of the other squad members a run.”
Smith made two changes from the side which beat Ankara 2-0 on Friday night with Rilwan Sule coming in for James Carr on the right hand side of midfield while Paul Murphy replaced Kevin Lynch, a move that skipper Ken Hoey switch from right back to left back to accommodate the 27-year-old.
After another cagey opening, the Irish broke the deadlock on 22 minutes when James Lee was brought down inside the area by Michael Kršák and while Czech goalkeeper David Juran initially saved Darren Dunne's effort from the spot, he could not prevent him sweeping home the rebound from close range for his second goal in two games.
The impressive Rilwan Sule then went close with a dipping shot that clipped off the top of the crossbar but the Irish were unable to add to their opening goal before the half-time break. They rode their luck in the opening minutes of the second half as Luksa Kubicek blasted Radim Zaruba’s shot across the post and the goalkeeper Brendan O’Connell produced a brilliant block to deny Tomas Zubek after a mix-up in the Irish defence.
Eastern Region added the cushion of a second goal on 61 minutes when Darren Dunne’s corner picked out defender Paul Breen at the back post and he powered a header to the back of the net. Noel Murray almost made it 3-0 minutes later but his goalbound shot was deflected wide by team-mate Gregory Moorehouse.
South Moravia dominated possession in the final quarter but the nearest they came to pulling a goal back was in the 79th minute when substitute Miloš Žoček smacked a free-kick from the edge of the box against the bar.
Eastern Region (IRL): Brendan O’Connell; Paul Murphy, Noel Murray, Paul Breen, Ken Hoey (C); Rilwan Sule (James Carr 55), Darren Dunne, James Lee, Laurence Dunne (Kevin Lynch 61); David Lacey (Thomas Dunne 72), Gregory Moorehouse.
South Moravia (CZE): David Juran; Roman Svarc (C), Jakub Splichal, Michael Krsak, Tomas Novotny; Lukas Kubicek (Miroslav Paul 72), David Lang, Radim Fiala (Milos Zocek 46), Radim Zaruba; Tomas Zubek (Ondrej Ullmann 62), Petr Svoboda.
Referee: Nikolaj Hanni (SUI).
UEFA Regions Cup Finals
Results & Fixtures
Friday, June 26
Group A
South Moravia (Czech Republic) 1 Tuzla (Bosnia & Herzegovina) 0
Eastern Region (IRL) 2 Ankara (Turkey) 0
Group B
Zagreb (Croatia) 4 Dolnośląski (Poland) 0
Eastern Region (NIR) 2 Württemberg 2 (Germany) 2l
Sunday, June 28
Group A
Eastern Region (IRL) 2 South Moravia 0
Ankara 2 Tuzla 1
Group B
Zagreb 3 Eastern Region (NIR) 1
Dolnośląski 0 Württemberg 1
Wednesday, July 1
Group A
Tuzla v Eastern Region (IRL), Tallaght Stadium, 19:00
Ankara v South Moravia, Carlisle Grounds, 19:00
Group B
Württemberg v Zagreb, Whitehall, 19:00.
Dolnośląski v Eastern Region (NIR), Tolka Park, 15:00.