Fermanagh’s Tom Mohan has taken the Republic of Ireland Under-19 squad a step closer to qualifying for the 2022 European Championships.

Mohan led his team to two wins and a draw, culminating in a 2-0 win over Bulgaria that secured their place as one of 28 countries in the elite phase of the qualifying.

Ireland won the first of their three group games over Montenegro before playing out a tense 1-1 draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The victory set up a decider against host nation Bulgaria, and two second-half goals clinched their place at the top of the group.

‘We got the win’

“We went into the last game knowing it was in our own hands, and we got the win, which sent us through,” said Tom.

“It was three different types of game, and the full squad was required, but thankfully the boys did the business.

“Beating teams from Eastern Europe is always a difficult task because the teams out there are well organised, very competitive, and they have players who can hurt you.

“We were one-nil up against Bosnia and Herzegovina and we had good chances to score more, but didn’t take them and we suffered.

“They hit us with a goal just before half time and it changed the whole complexion of the game.

“That put us into the last game against the hosts and the boys played really well and defended well when we had to.

“We were creating chances and finally took the two chances that saw us through.”

The team’s success came after an intense preparation period for Tom and his coaching team.

Having endured the absence of football for a considerable period due to the pandemic restrictions, the U-19 Manager admitted that he was relieved the interruption in competitive action did not appear to have an adverse impact on their results.

“It has been a long break,” Tom admitted.

“Some of these players didn’t play U-18 football last season, and some only played half a season at U-17.

“The big concern was the effect it would have on player development, with young players not getting the opportunity to play international football, which is so important in their development.

“We had training camps over in England and we had training camps at home as well, and got to see about 150 players in total.

“I am getting round League of Ireland games as well, so we are constantly monitoring players.

“We also got to play Sweden in a doubleheader in October, and that was a good gauge of how the players were coming on.

“We got two draws and it was a chance to see the players play international football for the first time in about two years.

“There is a good mix of lads, and thankfully all the boys came good, but we know we can’t rest on that.”

The draw for the next phase will take place in two weeks’ time, when the qualifying will be split into seven groups of four, with the winner of each group qualifying for the tournament in Slovakia.

The biggest names in European football will be in the draw with Mohan’s squad, but he is hopeful they will be in a position to upset the odds and make it through to the tournament in the summer.

“The draw will determine who are opponents are, and then our focus is straight away onto those three teams,” said Tom.

“Between now and March the boys will have more experience behind them, and the door will always be open for more to come in as well.

“The important thing is to get the strongest squad available to us, and then we can take it from there.

“We don’t know yet who we are going to come up against, but we will have a game plan for all three opponents.

“Our goal at the start of every season is to get to the European finals and it’s no different this year.

“We will work really hard to overcome our opponents in the elite phase but we will just take one game at a time, which is all we can do.

“Every team is there on their own merit, and they will all be very good sides.”