Some notes on Spurs youngster Jamie Bowden’s performance against Denmark under 19’s:

It was a proud moment for Spurs youngster Jamie Bowden (18) on Friday night as he made his debut for the Republic of Ireland’s under 19 side. The London born Bowden completed the full 90 minutes of Ireland’s 1-0 defeat to Denmark, at the Sligo Showgrounds. I am currently over in Derry on holiday, so I made the three hour trip down to Sligo on Friday evening to watch young Jamie make his debut for the ‘ Boys In Green ‘. And it was an overwhelmingly positive performance from Bowden, who really grew into Friday’s game and he asserted himself well on what was a closely fought battle. The north Londoner wore the number six shirt on a chilly evening in Sligo however, he operated at RCM. In the following piece I will be going through Jamie’s performance in chronological order, kick by kick. Bowden operated at RCM as Ireland lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Alongside Jamie in central midfield was Celtic midfielder Barry Coffey. Jamie Bowden delivered an early corner kick into the Denmark penalty area, but it was headed away by Denmark defender Tobias Anker before being fired over the crossbar by Barry Coffey. A second corner kick was played short to Armstrong Oko-Flex shortly afterwards, but nothing came of it. A couple of minutes later, and after winning the ball off of Gustav Morgensen by making a sliding challenge, Bowden tried his luck on goal however, his resulting curling effort flew wide of goal. Sitting just in front of the Ireland back four, Bowden was dropping into some good pockets of space during the early stages of the game, but he was playing with real caution. He was also always looking to receive the ball, just like when he plays for Spurs. After giving the ball away to Gustav Morgensen in a dangerous position, Morgensen eventually tested Ireland goalkeeper with Jimmy Corcoran with a testing low drive. Bowden soon made up for his error by breaking up a dangerous attack from Ahmed Dagim, before giving the ball to Andrew Omobamidele who cleared it away from danger. Bowden had a low whipped corner into the penalty area which evaded everyone, before he passed the ball out to Arsenal’s Mazeed Ogungbo on the left flank, but his resulting whipped cross was cleared away by a Denmark defender.

Young Jamie then had a promising corner kick punched clear by Denmark goalkeeper Nicolas Defreitas Hansen, before he had a whipped cross into the Denmark box cleared away by a defender. After winning a free kick out on the left flank, Bowden opted to take it. His resulting pumped ball into the danger zone was volleyed wide by Ireland captain Oisin McEntee. Bowden was becoming sharper and more assertive as the game progressed. Bowden had a sprayed pass to Armstrong Oko-Flex cut out on the left flank by Thomas Gundelund, before he sprayed a nice pass out to Mazeed Ogungbo on the left flank. Shortly before the end of the first half Bowden played an ambitious lofted forward pass up to Ireland centre forward Ryan Cassidy, but the Watford man failed to control the ball. Denmark took the lead on the stroke of halftime through Ahmed Dagim. Bowden had a corner kick cleared away by Tobias Anker at the beginning of the first half, before he embarked on a nice surging run through the middle of the park. Bowden eventually threaded a well weighted pass through to Armstrong Oko-Flex down the left side of Denmark penalty area but he squared it for Ryan Cassidy who was eventually intercepted by a Denmark defender. The Spurs midfielder had another sprayed pass to Armstrong Oko-Flex cut out before he had an ambitious through ball towards Ryan Cassidy cut out by Tobias Anker. Bowden sprayed another nice pass out to Armstrong Oko-Flex on the left flank before shifting the ball out to Andrew Omobamidele on the opposite flank. Bowden had really grown in confidence during the second half and he was playing some really positive forward passes. One such pass from Jamie was the pass of the game. After picking the ball up in central midfield Bowden played a glorious disguised through ball to Armstrong Oko-Flex down the left side of the Denmark penalty  area, but the Celtic mans resulting powerful effort was pushed away by Denmark goalkeeper Nicolas Defreitas Hansen.

Jamie Bowden then delivered a corner kick into the Denmark box but it was headed over by former Spurs schoolboy Timi Sobowale. After Ireland had won a free kick down the left flank, Bowden’s resulting delivery was cleared away by a Denmark defender, a couple of minutes before he had another long pass cut out. Bowden had really grown in confidence in the game and the quality and precision of his forward passing during the second half was very good. After playing a lovely pass out to substitute Festy Ebosele on the right flank, Ireland won a free kick which Bowden delivered, but it was punched away by Nicolas Defreitas Hansen. This was a very positive performance from Jamie Bowden who asserted himself really well on the game, and made some excellent forward passes while also doing a sterling job at sitting in front of the Ireland defence. This is hopefully the first of many Ireland caps for the 18 year old Londoner.