Irish youths star for Forest - June 6, 2000 The reason five of the six Nottingham Forest players were withdrawn from the Irish u17 squad for the international tournament in Portugal was that they were all involved with their club in a youth club tournament in Switzerland and they all made an impact in some way. Forest reached the final against Swiss side St. Gallen but when the referee sent off their central defensive partenership of John Thompson and Kevin Dawson they were fighting an uphill battle. St. Gallen went on to win the game 2-1 but Forest were not disgraced. Thompson had a great tournament despite getting sent off, as did Andy Reid, who was voted player of the tournament, and Niall McNamara, who finished top scorer in the competition. Barry Roche also had a hand in the team reaching the final. The Irish u17 goalkeeper saved a spot kick in the semi-final against PSV Eindhoven as Forest advanced 4-2 on penalties after a scoreless draw.
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