Carson Makes Northern Ireland U21 Bow

Gulls left-back stars in 1-1 draw against Moldova

Torquay United left-back Matt Carson made his debut for Northern Ireland U21s on Thursday afternoon, as Tommy Wright’s side played out a 1-1 friendly draw with Moldova in Turkey.

Having arrived at Plainmoor in the summer, Carson’s fine form for Paul Wotton’s promotion chasing side saw the former Southampton defender add to his caps with U16s, U18s and U19s with his first cap at Under-21 level, as he was named in the starting line-up at the Cornelia Sport Centre in Belek.

After helping his side come back from behind to secure a share of the spoils in their opening match of a four-team mini tournament, Matt will now be looking to follow that up against Ukraine U20s tomorrow, before things are wrapped up with a clash against Uzbekistan U21s next Tuesday.

These fixtures form part of Northern Ireland’s preparations for their  2025-27 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying campaign, which begins in Georgia in September, with their Group F opponents also including Germany, Greece, Latvia and Malta.

Everyone at Torquay United would like to congratulate Matt on this superb achievement, and we wish him all the best in the two remaining fixtures.

 

Photos used with kind permission of Northern Ireland FA. Photographer: Andrii Yushchak

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