Penalty drama in Ploufragan

Our Development Squad experienced the power and the pain of penalties as we fell short in our bid to retain the European Under-21 Tournament title in Ploufragan, France, over the weekend.

After beating both Paris Saint-Germain and OGC Nice in shootouts on Friday, a penalty decision went against us in our third and final group game against Stade Rennais on Saturday – defender Jon Dinzeyi seeing red in the process – and that was the catalyst for a 2-1 defeat, which meant we were mathematically unable to top the pile, thus missing out on a place in the final.

A 1-0 defeat to EA Guingamp on Sunday morning saw us finish sixth overall while midfielder Paris Maghoma picked up the Player of the Tournament trophy.

Playing 50-minute games in Group A, the opener against PSG got off to a frantic start and after Sabri Haddadou hit the post for the French side, Dinzeyi converted Jamie Bowden’s left wing free-kick to give us a ninth-minute lead. Marcus Edwards and Dylan Duncan went close, but Lucas Bernadou levelled from close range for PSG three minutes before half-time. More chances and a couple of penalty appeals followed after the break, but the game ended 1-1.

The format of the competition meant both sides picked up one point each, with a bonus point on offer for the winners of the resulting shootout. Shayon Harrison and Jack Roles scored, Samuel Shashoua’s effort was saved, as was the preceding PSG kick, Edwards scored, goalkeeper Jonathan De Bie saved the next one from the French side and Maghoma netted to secure a 4-3 victory.

Harrison went close a couple of times while De Bie made a flurry of late saves as our second game against Nice ended goalless. Edwards, Roles and Troy Parrott scored to give us a 3-1 win on penalties.

Defender Connor Ogilvie fired us ahead in the fourth minute against Stade Rennais with a fine long-range strike but when centre-back Dinzeyi conceded a penalty and was shown a straight red card less than three minutes into the second half, things turned against us. Timothée Nkada netted from the spot before Georginio Rutter secured a 2-1 win for Stade Rennais on 40 minutes.

With four points gained, we finished third behind PSG and Stade Rennais – both on six – and took on EA Guingamp, third in Group B, in the 30-minutes-each-way fifth place play-off on Sunday morning. Ryad Hachem’s seventh-minute strike saw us go down 1-0 as the tournament ended in frustrating fashion.