Ireland 7-a-side team take massive step to Paralympic qualification

Alf Stewart, Kylie Minogue and Lleyton Hewitt your boys took one hell of a beating.

It's been a very good day for the Irish Paralympic football team after a 4-1 win over Australia at the Cerebral Palsy Football World Championships means they have taken a massive leap towards their goal of Rio 2016. They came into the game off the back of a severe beating by Russia on Tuesday, but responded in brilliant style with a 4-1 defeat of Australia thanks to goals from Bray midfielder Gary Messett as well as two from Dillon Sheridan and a strike from Eric O'Flaherty. The win now sets Ireland up for a massive clash with Portugal on Saturday at 1pm, with matters in the group very finely balanced. The other group game will see unbeaten Russia face Australia, with the top two sides in the group reaching the q-finals. If we do make it to the last eight we're almost certain of a spot at the Parlympics next year, so a win against the currently pointless Portuguese is a must. After the game team captain Luke Evans praised his teammates for their performance,

“It was just so important to get the job done today; the result was all that mattered. Not for a second did we underestimate the Australians. "After their win over Portugal in the first game this was like a cup game, they needed to win just as much as we did. They gave it everything, you can’t underestimate that will. It’s just great to get the three points and now we can focus on the next game on Saturday.”

H/T to Paralympics.ie