Lithuania U21s dampen Republic of Ireland U21s' hopes of topping Euro 2017 group

The Republic of Ireland Under-21s have failed to top Group 2 after succumbing to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Lithuania Under-21s in their Euro 2017 qualifier.

Conor Wilkinson managed to cancel out Lukas Spalvis's goal towards the end of the first half, but Lithuania's Simonas Stankevicius and Donatas Kazlauskas managed to strike to give their side glory.

Ireland started the game on the front foot as Edvinas Gertmonas was forced into an early save from Callum O'Dowda, but the hosts also had their chances in the opening 45 minutes.

The breakthrough was made by Spalvis in the 22nd minute when he headed the ball into the back of the net, but Ireland continued to press and were eventually rewarded for their pressure.

Wilkinson struck in the 45th minute, but Ireland's hopes were dashed when Stankevicius scored one minute into injury time, just before the whistle blew.

After the break, O'Dowda came close to putting Ireland back on level terms, but his header was pushed wide of the goal from the keeper.

Sean Kavanagh also created an opportunity after charging into the area, but his low shot was comfortably gathered by the goalkeeper.

Things went from bad to worse for Ireland as Stankevicius played in Kazlauskas, who slotted the ball under Ireland's keeper, and Kavanagh was shown a straight red card in the 89th minute, reducing his side to 10 men.

Ireland drop to fourth in the group, while Lithuania stay bottom but have their first win of the campaign under their belts.