Rory Finneran and Alex Murphy help Ireland beat England to reach play-offs

Rory Finneran supplied an assist as Republic of Ireland Under-21s beat England 3-1 on Tuesday, 6 October, securing a place in the European Under-21 Championship qualifying play-offs.

He and Newcastle team-mate Alex Murphy both completed the full 90 minutes at Turner's Cross in Cork, where Ireland came from behind after Tyler Dibling's early opener.

Finneran won possession from Sydie Peck in midfield before setting up Tommy Lonergan's equaliser, with the striker finishing from an angle in the 22nd minute.

Conor McManus put Ireland ahead before half-time and Lonergan added his second after the break. The victory secured second place in Group D, behind an England side who had already qualified automatically for next summer's finals.

Murphy completes three full games for Ireland

Alex Murphy completed all three of Ireland's qualifiers during this camp and scored his first Under-21 international goal in the 4-3 win over Kazakhstan, which we covered in our latest Loan Watch.

Rory Finneran also started all three, playing the full game in the 2-0 win over Slovakia before completing 81 minutes against Kazakhstan.

Both are on season-long loans, with Finneran at Notts County and Murphy at Kaiserslautern. They head back with three wins behind them and an Ireland play-off campaign to look forward to.