PARALYMPICS: Irons hoping to finish fifth by beating Argentina

Dunstable footballer Liam Irons is hoping to help the ParalympicsGB seven-a-side football team to fifth place in the Paralympic Games when they face Argentina tomorrow.
Liam Irons - pic: onEdition 2016Liam Irons - pic: onEdition 2016
Liam Irons - pic: onEdition 2016

The 25-year-old, who currently plays for The 61 FC (Luton) in SSML Division Two, is part of the side for players with Cerebral Palsy.

Irons started all three of the preliminaries pool matches, playing every minute so far as his side started with a 2-1 defeat to Ukraine.

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Volodymyr Antoniuk put their opponents 1-0 up on 25 minutes, before Michael Barker (35) levelled.

Irons then picked up a booking as Artem Kraslynykov scored the winner from the penalty spot in the second period.

They suffered defeat by the same scoreline in their clash with Brazil as they trailed 2-0 before David Porcher grabbed a consolation.

Irons was part of the side who finished their group stage with a fine 5-1 victory over Ireland on Monday, ensuring third place.

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Jack Rutter opened the scoring in the first minute, with Liverpool’s Michael Barker doubling the lead before the first eight minutes were up, tapping in the rebound after Rutter’s penalty was saved.

Luke Evans’ own goal, in first-half injury time, gave ParalympicsGB what they thought would be a three-goal lead heading into half-time, before Bristol’s James Blackwell still had time to make it four.

Conor Tuite got one back for the Irish in the 59th minute, but former Liverpool youngster Sean Highdale restored the four-goal advantage in second-half stoppage time.

The GB team now face Argentina tomorrow, safe in the knowledge they have improved on their seventh-placed finish at London 2012.