Hoban plays in opening victory for Irish side in Regions Cup

WESTPORT United's David Hoban played 75 minutes of the Republic of Ireland's UEFA Regions' Cup representatives' win over Russian opponents in Istanbul courtesy of an Eoin Hayes goal.

Made up of players from the Connaught/Munster area, the team are known officially by UEFA as Region 2 - but head coach Gerry Davis knew it was Irish pride that was on the line in their opening match of this year's finals tournament.

Newmarket Celtic attacker Eoin Hayes pounced on 26 minutes to break the deadlock and there was no way back from there for the opposition, despite fighting right to the end to find an equaliser.

Goalkeeper Brendan O'Connell was on high alert throughout, although his confidence in the players in front of him was justified as the Irish side attempted to play on the front foot and push their opponents back inside their own half at every opportunity.

In an all-action first period, Hoban and David Stack went close before Hayes eventually found the net after having a number of chances.

The Russian opponents (South Region) responded by making an early substitution and adopting a more adventurous approach. They had opportunities to pull one back but the Irish defence stood strong and kept them at bay.

The victory puts Davis's team joint top of Group B - Castilla y Leon won 4-1 against Olomouc in the other game - ahead of Monday's showdown with their Spanish counterparts.

Passage through to the final remains on track as Davis aims to guide his team all the way to glory - just like in 2015 when Gerry Smith's outfit triumphed on home soil.