Academy International round-up: Palace trio secure important results - News

Three Crystal Palace Academy prospects represented their nations in the final international break of the year; find out how they performed below.

Centre-back Seán Grehan was called up to represent Republic of Ireland U21s in a pair of friendlies against Sweden in Marbella this month.

The Palace defender was part of a new-look Ireland side who played the first match against the Swedes, falling 2-0 last week.

Grehan featured for the full 90 minutes and was part of a firm defensive unit who came under the cosh for large stretches of the first-half, but were eventually undone by two fortuitous second-half Swedish goals.

Grehan did not feature in the second match between the two sides a few days later: a 3-2 win for Ireland.

Having missed out on a play-off spot for next summer's Euro U21 finals by virtue of their head-to-head record with Norway, Jim Crawford's Boys in Green are now looking ahead to their 2027 UEFA European U21 Championship Qualifiers next year.

This selection was based on players that will be eligible for the tournament - those born in 2004 or later, making Killian Phillips and Tayo Adaramola, who were part of the previous side, ineligible. Franco Umeh missed out due to injury.

Also representing the Boys in Green, at Under-19s level, Jake Grante took on a trio of European U19 Championship Qualifiers in Moldova.

They began with a 0-0 draw against the group hosts Moldova on Wednesday afternoon, with Grante an unused subsitute.

Three days later, however, the defender started and played 83 minutes as his side producing a superb performance to put four goals past Azerbaijan, keeping a clean sheet in the process.

Going into the final match against group leaders Iceland on Tuesday afternoon, Ireland knew a draw would see them finish in the top two of their pool

Grante retained his place in the side for the final group game, and this time played the full 90 minutes as the Republic of Ireland secured an impressive 2-1 win to take top spot.

They will now progress to next spring’s Elite Round of qualifiers, with the opportunity to reach the finals in Romania.

Also representing England in 2025 UEFA U19 European Championship qualifying, Jesse Derry is in Bulgaria for the Three Lions' first qualifying round.

Will Antwi’s team faced Lithuania on Wednesday afternoon and won out 1-0 thanks to an early goal from Ethan Nwaneri; Derry appeared for the last 20 minutes of the game.

The Palace forward then made his first start for England at U19s level, playing 87 minutes as the Young Lions guaranteed their place in the Elite Round phase with a 2-1 win over group hosts Bulgaria.

The hosts took the lead early in the game through a long-range effort from Adrian Raychev, but Derry came close to scoring an equaliser mere moments later, forcing the 'keeper into a good save with a curling effort.

England continued to press forwards and turned the game around before half-time thanks to goals from Ethan Nwaneri and Lewis Orford, holding out in the second-half to secure their progression as one of the group's top two sides.

With just a point subsequently required to take top spot, England secured it with a 0-0 draw against Belgium on Tuesday afternoon. Derry made his third appearance of the week after coming on as a 63rd-minute substitute.

This was the first time Derry has been with the England U19s squad, after performing well for the U18s and U17s on previous occasions.

Seán Grehan - Republic of Ireland Under-21s

Thursday, 14th November: Republic of Ireland 0-2 Sweden (Grehan played the full 90 minutes of the friendly for Ireland)
Sunday, 17th November: Republic of Ireland 3-2 Sweden (Grehan did not feature)

Jesse Derry - England Under-19s

Wednesday, 13th November: England 1-0 Lithuania (Derry played the last 20 minutes, his debut at this level)
Saturday, 16th November: Bulgaria 1-2 England (Derry made his first England U19s start and helped his side secure progression to the next round)
Tuesday, 18th November: England 0-0 Belgium (Derry came on in the 63rd minute as England sealed top spot)

Jake Grante - Republic of Ireland Under-19s

Wednesday, 13th November: Republic of Ireland 0-0 Moldova (Grante was an unused subsitute)
Saturday, 16th November: Republic of Ireland 4-0 Azerbaijan (Grante played 83 minutes to help his side to an important win and clean sheet)
Tuesday, 19th November: Iceland 1-2 Republic of Ireland (Grante played the full 90 minutes as the Republic of Ireland secured top spot in their group)

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