Dean Kelly was the goal-scoring star of their first match against a team representing Calinganis for he scored four of Ireland's five goals in a 5-1 victory.The prolificKelly scored a hat-trick when Ireland beat Scotland in the UEFA Regions' Cup qualifiers in October, 2008.

Ireland maintained their good form when they scored a 3-0 win in their second match against Olmeda, a team that is currently leading Serie D in the Italian League.

Manager Gerry Smith expressed himself well pleased with the performances in the two matches. They helped build on the spirit within the group which has always been described as excellent by the manager.

Ireland will need to be in good spirits and full of optimism and ambition when they travel to Croatia for the UEFA Regions' Cup after the draw was made in Zagreb on Thursday, April 23, 2009. Ireland were grouped with Spain, Bosnia and Belgium in what is certain to be a highly competitive tournament.

The manager reacted to news of the draw by commenting: "No matter what way the draw panned out we were always going to be up against decent opposition. We know that we are a very competitive side and we will be well prepared for what lies ahead."

Smith will now take his squad to Portugal this month for some warm weather acclimitisation and training in preparation for the Summer tournament in Croatia will be hoping that St. Michael's Paul Breen who played an important part in qualifying for these Finals will be available