Revenge Serbed Cold

It's disappointing that what was one of our better performances of this group ended up being our worst result. But having rode our luck in Belgrade a year ago to escape with a point, the Serbs extracted revenge in clinical fashion and the optimism of the first hour evaporated in a string of poor final balls and snatched shots as desperation took hold.

The majority of us who gathered as usual in the Beggars after work on Tuesday evening were still looking a bit worn out from all the travel with the likes of the Quinn Towers only getting in that morning. Even those of us who'd arrived home on the Sunday were still feeling the pinch and the disappointment of the result but the energy levels were lifted by the bulk of our home season ticket crew and the Brummies who'd missed Georgia but had flown into Dublin the night before this game. There was a good crowd in the area with a full house expected and despite how poorly we'd played the previous weekend, the hope was that we couldn't be as poor again and that a win would get us back on track.

The team duly came through a little earlier than the normal hour beforehand and all were agreed that, despite not being certain what formation we'd line out in, an eleven of  Randolph, Christie, Clark, Duffy, Ward, Meyler, Hoolahan, Brady, McClean, Walters and Long looked more positive than had been selected for a while. The only questions were would it be a straight 4-4-2 or a diamond formation and whether the positive selection could be matched by the play on the pitch.

As normal, we arrived at our usual spot in a packed Singing Section just before the anthems and then witnessed a very special moment as our fallen comrade, John 'The Bear' Dowling, was remembered with his picture on the big screen being greeted by a solid minute's applause as the Lansdowne Road crowd paid their respects. I doubt there was anyone in the stadium that wasn't moved by it and it definitely helped ignite the atmosphere as the game kicked off.

It was clear early on that Martin O'Neill seemed to have gone for a diamond formation with Shane Long and Jon Walters up front and Wes Hoolahan playing at the tip of the diamond behind them. However, it was Serbia who created the first chance as some nervous play by Meyler on 3 minutes led to Shane Duffy having to charge down a Matic shot.

The atmosphere had kept going from the off and it seemed to have rubbed off on James McClean as he fell back into his old habit of getting too involved and was lucky to escape a booking about ten minutes in as he clattered into Rukavina and was given a serious talking to. Unfortunately, this was a sign of things to come with McClean. While I wouldn't have been unhappy to see him taking a card late on to get his suspension out of the way against Moldova rather than the final game against Wales, I didn't want him to walk a tightrope the majority of the game.

The first corner of the game followed closely from Serbia and the atmosphere was further enhanced as Kostić hit the ball straight out of play without even reaching the near post. Ireland then responded with some good pressure to win a throw closely followed by a corner and it was from that corner that the most enjoyable 20 seconds of the game materialised.

As we were attacking the North end of the ground in the first half, it was impossible for us in the South to get any sort of a view of the Serbian defensive line. So after the short corner was worked back to Hoolahan and his clipped ball was powered home by Duffy, our end went ballistic. The fact that the FAI insist on playing goal music and that the person in charge of it also didn't realise that Duffy was a good yard offside meant that we were still celebrating long after the flag went up and it was only when the music cut off that we twigged something was wrong. Playing music after a goal is a bug bear of mine as I don't see any need for it. The atmosphere is going to be bouncing anyway so what's the point in drowning it out with Seven Nation Army? After it being accidentally played when Scotland equalised in the last campaign, it's now twice that it's been incorrectly put on. Again, what's the point?

Despite the disappointment of the goal being chalked off, it seemed to lift Ireland and a few jokes were cracked among us about the fact that it was too early for us to score anyway given how we've defended early goals this campaign. We actually started to string a few passes together with Hoolahan at the core. Long had a good effort tipped over about twenty minutes in. After a few borderline Serbian challenges, we finally got a free in a good position but, as has often been the case since the Euros, Robbie Brady's delivery failed to beat the first man.

We were certainly holding our own by now although Randolph had to get down well to keep a good Mitrovic effort out as we entered the last ten minutes of the half. Meyler was putting himself about nicely and we were mixing up our direct approach with a decent bit of football in a way that had been missing in the previous three qualifiers. I felt we had been the dominant side for most of the half and although Serbia began to get a bit of a hold of the ball in the last 7 or 8 minutes, a couple of excellent tackles from Meyler and McClean really got the crowd going again. When the half-time whistle came, the general consensus with those around was that all were satisfied with what we'd seen.

The first ten minutes of the second half saw more of the same with Ireland winning a couple of set pieces including a corner which was, once again, poorly delivered by Brady. However, while we were having our fair share of possession, we weren't really testing Stojkovic in the Serbia goal with a Long effort comfortably saved being as good as it got in that spell. And unfortunately, we were made to pay for that lack of cutting edge a minute later.

The worst thing about the concession was that we had a number of half chances to clear our lines. A Brady header clear from a Tadic cross didn't have enough purchase on it to reach McClean even though it looked like McClean might be able to win possession back from Tadic again but the Southampton man wriggled free and fed Kostic. With Cyrus Christie pulled inside, Kostic fed Koralov in the space on our right and, despite his best efforts, Walters couldn't get back in time to prevent Koralov unleashing an absolute rocket. Although Randolph got a hand to it, the pace it moved at meant that all his touch did was deflect the ball onto the underside of the bar on its way into the net. 1-0 Serbia and suddenly we had a mountain to climb.

The goal really sucked the atmosphere out of the stadium and the hope was that we could regain some of the composure we'd been showing in the previous 35 minutes. However, with Hoolahan not getting on the ball as much, O'Neill decided to roll the dice five minutes after the goal and it was Wes who paid the price.

While I'd have preferred to see Arter come on, given the manager's history, the fact that it was Daryl Murphy shouldn't have been a surprise. Like a wedding DJ trying to get people onto the dance floor, O'Neill's philosophy when things need changing is to go back to the 1980's and pump it all night long. The message a substitution like that sends out is essentially to stop playing football and revert to banging balls up the pitch. And, in fairness, it paid off in a way on 67 minutes as a long ball from Brady wasn't dealt with by Vukovic and with Murphy bearing down on goal, Maksimovic took him down while stretching for the ball. The ref had no doubt it was a straight red card and the sight of it re-energised the crowd as we faced into the last quarter with an extra man and a free kick at the edge of the box.

A couple of minutes had passed by the time Brady got to take the free but once again, it was wasted as he struck it straight into the wall. The irony of the situation now was that, had Hoolahan been on the pitch the space generated by the extra man would have suited him down to a tee but had Murphy not been on, the red card may never have come. O'Neill seemed to realise this and shortly after sent on Callum O'Dowda for Stephen Ward as we shifted to three at the back. The unfortunate thing is that, while O'Dowda looks like he may have potential on the ball, he doesn't have the experience or guile to dictate play like Hoolahan.  That said, he was involved in our best chance to get something from the game as he played a cross in to Murphy who was blatantly manhandled as he challenged for the ball only for the ref to wave his protests away.

Our composure had totally deserted us by now with Christie's follow up shot blazing over the bar in what was becoming a pattern with McClean having done similar a couple of minutes before. As mentioned earlier, McClean has a habit of letting his emotions and pride in the shirt get ahead of him and that was the case again here as he got his customary booking and hit another couple of shots over when recycling the ball would have been a better option. I couldn't count the amount of times that players took wrong options with poor final balls and wayward shots but Christie, McClean and a newly introduced Conor Hourihane were all guilty of it. With news filtering through that Wales had finally taken a late lead against Moldova, our situation was looking more desperate by the minute.

Any hope I had that the introduction of O'Dowda might lead to a more nuanced approach didn't last long as we persisted with the long ball game rather than trying to make use of the extra man. In fact, it would have been impossible for anyone who walked in halfway through the second half to know which team had an extra man. Instead of pulling players out wide to create space, we persisted in putting high balls into the box that were meat and strong to a team as big and strong as Serbia. Why persist in letting them keep it compact in the centre when it wasn't working even when they were down to nine men for a couple of minutes as another of their defenders was off getting treatment? Let's not forget this was the second game where our approach prevented us taking advantage of an extra man after failing to do so against Wales in March.

A half-chance for Murphy hit straight at the keeper was as good as it got as we moved into stoppage time. While the Serbian tactic of time wasting was as frustrating as it was unsurprising, our use of the ball by now was non-existent and our brute force approach wasn't paying dividends as silly fouls gave away possession time and time again. A final flurry finished with Randolph coming up for a last corner in the 5th minute of stoppage time but another poor delivery was easily dealt with and the Irish players slumped to the ground as the ref blew up for full-time.

I'm not going to do a post mortem on the campaign at this stage with two games left and an outside chance of still making a play-off. But questions have to be asked as to how we've let such a promising position six months ago drift away so badly. The annoying thing is that we showed on Tuesday that we can play reasonable ball when the right team and tactics are employed. In fact, I'm convinced that, had we approached the home games against Wales and Austria and the away game in Georgia in the same manner as we did on Tuesday, that we'd still be in the driving seat in the group. Instead, the managers innate conservatism meant that we set up not to lose those games and in doing so ceded the initiative to our rivals.

While losing Seamus Coleman was a massive loss and injuries to James McCarthy, Jeff Hendrick and even Aiden McGeady haven't helped, it's clear that with Hoolahan in the team, we play a different sort of game and, in the long run, a more effective one. Most of our best moments in recent years such as the goal in Gelsenkirchen and those against Sweden and Italy in the Euros have come with him on the pitch. I appreciate that he's getting older and I've always said that I can understand why a manager would take a different approach against the top sides. However, I can't understand why he's not trusted against the lower seeds when we play them. It's not just what he does on the pitch, it's what he enables other players to do as well.

So, we now face our last two games having picked up 10 points from our first four and only 3 from our second four. That said, having picked up 4 points despite been outplayed by Georgia at home and Serbia away, maybe we shouldn't be surprised at how we've unraveled considering the only two good performances have been away to Moldova and Austria. Even in those games we gave up chances but the chickens seem to be coming home to roost. Even turning things round and winning our last two games may not be enough with our group currently bottom of the second place table with only eight of nine runners up making the play-offs. As for Serbia, the 3 points gained here have made them almost dead certs to reach Russia next summer. Revenge for them after that point we pilfered in Belgrade was indeed a dish best Serbed cold.

Midnight Plane To Georgia

In all the years I've spent following the Irish team, we seem to have drawn Georgia on an inordinate number of occasions. An initial meeting in 2003 during Brian Kerr's first campaign ended in an ill-tempered 2-1 victory best remembered for the various knives, bottles and ball-bearings thrown at Kevin Kilbane, Shay Given, Gary Breen and Gary Doherty. This was followed by an August 2008 clash in Giovanni Trapattoni’s first away game which ended in the same score and is best remembered for the fact that it was moved to the neutral venue of Mainz in Germany after the Russo-Georgian war broke out that month, much to the chagrin of the hosts. Fast forward to Martin O'Neill’s reign and Georgia once again provided the first away opposition with 2-1 also the scoreline as a bit of Aiden McGeady magic secured the 3 points. Throw in the home fixtures and a friendly and I'd imagine we've played Georgia more than any other opposition in the last 15 years. And I even include Oman in that!

The sheer distance of travel involved (and the lateness of the venue change in ‘08) meant that I'd skipped those games so when we inevitably drew them again for this campaign and having heard good reports from previous trips, I decided to take the plunge and undertake my longest trip since Japan and Korea in 2002. The big difference being that this was a three dayer rather than a four weeker!

With no direct route in, many convoluted options were available and after deciding the rollover option via a lock-in till three in Steve Amsterdam’s Molly Malone’s bar before heading for a 5:30am flight from Schiphol, was too much to take on at the start of a trip, a Wizz Air route through Luton to the city of Kutaisi suited best. The only fear was that a ninety minute connection at Luton might be cutting things a little fine if the Ryanair flight from Dublin got delayed at all. As it happened, any worries were unfounded as a two hour delay on the Luton-Kutaisi meant I had plenty of time to meet with the lads I was travelling from Luton with, Borussia and Charlton’s Child from YBIG and their mate Seamus, over a couple of pints.

On boarding, it was clear that the bulk of the flight was made up of Irish fans and there was a good-natured atmosphere for the duration of the five hours. That said, the two hour delay on top of the three hour time difference meant that there were some fairly tired heads disembarking when we finally landed at 4:30 in the morning. While the bulk of the fans on the flight were going straight onto the final leg; a four hour bus journey to Tbilisi, the four of us had booked into a hotel to grab what we thought would be about five hours sleep before getting a 10am train. This necessitated getting a cab from the airport to the city which is where the fun and games really started.

There doesn't seem to be any regulation of the taxi industry in Georgia so it's basically a free for all. There are no meters in the cars and it seems that everyone fancies themselves a cab driver. With no metering, a price has to be agreed beforehand and you have to be prepared to haggle. Walking out of any airport or train station you get accosted by any number of lads looking for a fare and with us not knowing how much was a fair price at this point, we ended up agreeing to pay a guy 40GEL (about €3 each) to bring us to the hotel. We were all pretty certain that was over the odds but at that price and at that hour of the morning we were beyond caring.

The other thing that's noticeable about cabbies in Georgia is that none of them seem to have a rashers where they're going. So, despite giving him the address at the start of the journey, it was clear as soon we got into the city centre that this lad was hopelessly lost. A stop at a 24-hour store yielded no leads and a couple of phone calls didn't seem to get him anywhere. We were starting to get a bit unsettled by now and this went to the next level when he turned down some side-street and brought us into a dead end! I think we all expected his mates to appear and Borussia already had the front door open while the three of us in the back were entering flight or fight mode! With no-one appearing from the shadows, we all calmed down a bit as it turned out he'd genuinely taken a wrong turn and managed to persuade us he'd get us where we wanted! A three point turn got us back on the main road and ten minutes later, he finally found the street we were looking for when we finally managed to convey that it was beside Kutaisi train station.
By the time we checked in, it was 5:30 and despite being dog tired, sleep wasn't easy coming. I think I finally nodded off around 6:30 and with an early train to catch, was back up about 2 hours later. As there was no train from Kutaisi till 12:15, which didn't get to Tbilisi till after 5, we'd decided to get the 10am train from Rioni, a town about 10km away. This meant another cab ride, this time from what seemed like a more legit taxi. That said, when he turned onto a dust track with a pack of stray dogs roaming around, we began to wonder what was going on until we saw a few Irish shirts waiting on a Soviet-era platform that had definitely seen better days. The lads waiting had got in earlier the previous day via Warsaw and despite having a few beers the previous night told us that we hadn't missed much in Kutaisi, which still seems quite underdeveloped in comparison with Tbilisi.

After two hours sleep, a four hour train journey wasn't much fun and nor was another haggle with a cab driver. As I was staying with Terry the Tash and Pete McG who had arrived earlier in the week, the rest of the lads went off to their hotel and I jumped a cab on my own. Despite having the route saved in Google maps, this driver still managed to miss a turn and take another ten minute detour to get back on track. It's worth mentioning that the driving in Georgia is full-on insane with the rules of the road seemingly more suggestion than actual laws! There are cars weaving everywhere, cutting across lanes, pulling u-turns and drivers roaring abuse at each other constantly. All the while trying to avoid pedestrians who just walk out wherever they want to cross. I'm talking about pensioners with walking sticks, mothers carrying children, the whole nine yards! I thought Italy was bad for traffic and Dublin bad for jaywalking but this was next-level stuff!

So by the time I got to the hotel it was 2:30 and as I knew a walking tour had been arranged on YBIG for 3: 00, literally had time to drop the bag off in the room and head straight back out. Terry and Pete had gone on a day tour up the mountains with the Amsterdam crew so, after another roundabout taxi journey, I hooked back up with Borussia and the lads at Freedom Square to see a huge crowd of assorted YBIGers getting sorted into two groups by a pair of tour guides.

The walking tours are a great way to see a city and get your bearings, as well as learning something about where you're visiting. Plus, the older I'm getting, it's a good excuse to get a few hours out of the pub! This tour took in a number of old churches, some Catholic but mainly Georgian Orthodox, where the green clad hordes walking in raised a few eyebrows. After walking around some local food markets where we were given a lesson in the importance of being a toastmaster at a wine drinking session and treated to some freshly baked Georgian bread and some Churchkhela, a local fruit and nut type of salami, we walked over the Bridge of Peace which straddles the Kura River and links the old and new towns.

Heading on towards the Presidential Palace, we were given a potted history of the city since independence following the collapse of the USSR before getting the cable car up to the Narikala Fortress where the panoramic views of the city were absolutely spectacular. As was the sight of a helicopter overhead with a huge water bucket attached attempting to quell a small forest fire caused by the searing heat, which was hitting the mid 30’s at this stage. Having spent three hours on the tour, we finished up by getting some mountain top snaps with a peacock and a peregrine falcon perched on either arm followed by a visit to the Mother of Georgia statue. As I promised the missus, these would be the only birds on my arms while I was away!

Although there was still a visit to the sulphur baths and a wine tasting to come, we'd promised to head to the YBIG fans match which was due to kick off at 6:30 so we slipped away to haggle yet another taxi and headed to the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium where Ireland had actually played their 2003 qualifier. Although this game was on the back pitch with only a single stand, the venue would still put plenty of League of Ireland grounds to shame. We even managed a quick sneak into the main stadium before being collared by security and politely told to move on.

The fans match was played out against a backdrop of thunder and incredible forked lighting which must have caused a bit of worry for the Quinn Towers who, as the centre-half pairing, were by far the tallest things in the immediate vicinity of the stadium! A good crowd saw the YBIG team lead 1-0 and 2-1 before a late Georgia equaliser sent us to penalties. The drama wasn’t finished there as Ireland thought they’d won it only for the ref to demand a retake due to the keeper moving before the kick. With nerves now playing a part, the Georgian keeper saved the retake only for the ref to call it back again for the same reason meaning a third kick had to be taken with Keitho holding his nerve to eventually win the shoot-out 5-3!

Although we'd arranged to meet the gang who'd gone on the day-trip after the game, their tour seemed to have taken a lot longer than anticipated so by the time they arrived around midnight we'd already had a few beers and had hit a cracking restaurant for the bit of dinner. The Hangar bar in the old town had become a bit of a meeting point for the fans and indeed the media and, after finding myself sitting at the bar beside RTE’s Tony O’Donoghue, had an interesting chat about various things, including his infamous rapport with Martin O’Neill, over an enjoyable pint. Having only had two hours sleep in the past twenty hours, I wasn't up for anything too mad and spent the last part of the night chatting with our tour guide from earlier who had come in with her other half to enjoy the atmosphere. Asking me about Irish history is one of those things that sets me off but after an hour or two bending their ears, I decided that 2:30 was time to call it a night so had one last taxi haggle to get back to the hotel before crashing out to rest for match day after a quick call home.

The morning of the match brought more sweltering sunshine but given the lack of sleep from the previous day, all I saw of it was a trudge downstairs for breakfast before going back up for another couple of hours kip. The game was kicking off at 8pm local time so tentative plans were made to meet up at the Hanger bar between 3 and 4. This gave me a couple of hours after finally rising for a bit of exploring and shopping, although given the prices on offer for top quality labels and scents on offer, I think it was fair to question the bona fides! Pretty much everything in the city seems to be open to negotiation so if you enjoy a good haggle then you’re in your element! Having dropped a couple of things back to the hotel, the three of us from the room wandered down to the square at the Hanger where the crowd was already filling out with the Amsterdam Crew and Quinn Towers arriving to join us. All the various flags and banners were being hung up around the area which made an interesting backdrop for a local wedding that was passing through. As did the chants of “Stand Up For the Bride in White!” that started up as the bride and groom posed for some pictures with the fans!  

The few hours before travelling to a ground are one of my favourite times on an away trip with everyone optimistic and in good spirits as the excitement and atmosphere builds up. The nerves haven’t normally kicked in yet, you’re bumping into people you only really see on these trips, nobody is too hammered and you haven’t had a game to pick apart yet so it’s always a great time. So the next couple of hours were spent mingling with familiar faces and meeting friends of friends with the regular chants and songs getting a good airing. Given Georgia’s proximity to the Middle East, a good number of Irish who were working in the likes of Dubai and Doha had taken advantage of the fact they had less travel time than us to get there so some interesting conversations were had about working in that area and before long, it was time to head up towards the ground.

A couple of local fans we’d been talking to had directed us towards the metro so rather than have the hassle of haggling yet another taxi fair, we took a good-natured march through the city having a bit of banter with the locals on the way. The metro itself was an interesting experience as we had to descend the longest escalator I’ve ever seen in my life which also happened to move at breakneck speed. I’m talking something that must be double the size of the really long ones on the Northern Line in London and moving at twice the speed! The stations are fairly vividly decorated which provided a contrast to the Soviet era trains that service it.  A couple of stops later and we came up from the depths and walked through the subways (full of more stalls and shops selling anything and everything) to surface back at ground level not far from the ground.

By this stage the team had come out and the line-up of Randolph, Christie, Duffy, Clark, Ward, Whelan, Arter, McClean, Brady, Walters and Long was pretty much as expected. With a home game on Tuesday, I hadn’t expected Wes Hoolahan to start 2 games in four days and expected him to get a cameo off the bench if we needed to close the game out before starting on Tuesday. My only issue was my suspicion that Jon Walters couldn’t have recovered sufficiently from the ankle injury he’d picked up a couple of weeks back. I know most players will play through the pain barrier and both Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane have gone on the record as being in favour of risking players with fitness concerns once they come through training, but it didn’t work with Walters in Euro 2016 and I was doubtful that it would work here. Still, maybe we could get a good hour out of him I thought, pushing the negative thoughts out of my mind as we walked up to the stadium itself.      

The Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena was previously the Lenin Dinamo Stadium before being renamed after the man said to be Georgia’s greatest player. Despite its 54,549 capacity, it’s a fairly standard Soviet era building from the outside but is a decent enough functional stadium once you’re in. The lower tier that we were situated in had nothing that you could hang a flag off on the concrete barriers separating the crowd from the running track so all the flags that were hanging when we got in had been stuck up with gaffer tape. Not wanting to take a chance of seeing the 69ers flag fall down the 20 foot or so drop , I decided to see if I could get up onto the next level where there were barriers that you could tie flags to, so as soon as the anthems finished I tore up the stairs and found a decent spot. I’d literally just run back to my seat as Cyrus Christie whipped in a great free and, with the Georgian keeper flapping under a dubious bit of pressure from Ciaran Clark, Shane Duffy got his head onto the ball and buried it! With Duffy’s last action in green being his harshly disallowed effort for a foul on the keeper that denied us a win against Austria, this was a nice bit of karma for him. One-nil after four minutes. Unfortunately, this was about as good as it got for us.

I’ve said in previous blogs that scoring early seems to nearly be one of the worst things that Ireland can do. Even though that sounds ridiculous, we’ve generally always played at our best when we have to chase something in a game and, the honourable exception of the France last 16 game aside, if we score early we tend to drop further and further back in a desperate attempt to hold what we have. We’ve seen it time and time again, with the away game v. Serbia early in the campaign turning out to be a marker for how things progressed here. It’s understandable against teams the calibre of Germany, Spain et al. but against teams ranked as lowly as Georgia then we need to impose ourselves on them rather than sit off them and let them dictate the play. Unfortunately, and exactly as we did against Serbia, this was precisely what we did.

Although, we had a great chance to go two up around 20 minutes in when James McClean should have got his header from a Walters cross on target, Georgia were already dominating possession at that stage. And when the equaliser finally arrived, no-one could argue that it hadn’t be coming for a while. Our habit of sitting deep meant that Georgia had all the space they wanted in the first two-thirds of the pitch and had dominated the possession to the tune of 78%. We’d already had a few desperate clearances by the time Kashia slipped the ball down the right-hand channel to Jigauri who played a lovely angled pass back inside to Ananidze. With two defenders drawn out to him, he still had all the time he needed to play in Kazaishvili in acres of space who picked his spot past Randolph. One-all and at this stage, I just wanted to get to half-time level.

We still looked rocky for the next ten minutes although after finally winning our first corner on 44 minutes nearly took the lead again with Makaridze in the Georgian goal parrying a Duffy header clear. That said, that seemed to just annoy the Georgians and they finished the half putting our goal under pressure again for the final minute. The whistle, when it finally came, was a blessed relief.

I assumed that Martin O’Neill would put a rocket up the team’s collective backside at half-time and we might see some sort of reaction but with an aimless Irish hoof down the pitch pretty much straight from the kick-off, it soon developed into the same pattern as the first half. At one point after Georgia had played about twenty plus passes, I actually counted how many we would have till we lost it. Five passes later and the sixth went straight into touch. The only positive was that Georgia weren’t creating any clear-cut chances but conceding possession in the manner we were doing against a team ranked 112 in the world was unacceptable.

The game was crying out for some changes and the introduction of anyone who could actually put their foot on the ball and pass it. When the first substitution came, it was Aiden McGeady, rather than Wes Hoolahan, who came on for a very disappointing Harry Arter. In fairness to McGeady, he is capable of good creative football in the 10 position on his day and his arrival did see a slight improvement. A chance was finally created on 69 minutes with a Long header over from a Christie cross but despite the change, it still looked like any chance we might create would be from a set- piece.

Georgia carried on dictating possession but we were at least pressing them a little better now and another corner, this time Walters heading straight at the keeper just after Daryl Murphy replaced Glenn Whelan, who was another to have a very disappointing game. Having got a smash and grab victory 3 years ago in Georgia after a poor performance, I started to think that there might be a chance of doing similar the longer the time ticked on and we really should have done that on 86 minutes. Long did very well to keep another long ball in play on the left wing and with the Georgia players appealing for a throw-in, played a lovely ball into McClean. While he didn’t have as much space as he did for his Vienna winner, he was still favourite to score but a poor second touch gave the keeper time to narrow the angle and a combination of the keeper’s legs and Kverkvelia’s head kept the ball out.

A chance for Georgia to win it then came with a Merebashvili shot well wide of the past. McGeady then has the chance to repeat his feat of 2014 and win it at the death as he found himself in acres of space on the end of a Walters knock down from yet another launched long ball but instead of hitting it first time or even taking a second touch to control it, he instead leant back and blazed the ball over the bar. With that being the last meaningful action, we reached the end of stoppage time coming away with a point we scarcely deserved. The players, with the exception of Shane Long, couldn’t wait to get off the pitch and were clearly too embarrassed to even come down and applaud an angry and frustrated fanbase.

With final statistics of 31% possession for Ireland and 150 completed passes against 568 for Georgia, legitimate questions have to be asked of the players and the management even allowing for the clear cut chances we had to rob the extra two points. While it wouldn’t be my preference, I’ve no issue with long ball tactics if they bring results. However, to employ that game then you need to press up on the opposition and not give them space to pass the ball at will. We’re not talking about Spain at Euro 2012 here where their quality was so good that we couldn’t get near them. In this game we deliberately sat back in our own third and made Georgia look like a top quality nation. I’ve seen some articles since pointing out the obvious that our players are generally lower Premier League/Championship level but those articles seem to ignore the fact that that is still a far higher level than the Georgian team (which was also missing key players) who dominated on Saturday play at. There’s an argument that the horrific injury to Seamus Coleman has left us without one of our leaders although he was playing in Belgrade when we only managed to complete 94 passes and were lucky to get away with a draw. The fact is that Austria and Moldova away aside, we’ve been very poor in this group and haven’t kicked on from the Euros. The tactics being employed are generally to be blamed for that, along with our decades old tendency to retreat into our shell when we take the lead. Rather than this fear that we seem to have shrinking under O’Neill, it seems to have gotten bigger. All I can hope for tomorrow is that our habit of producing good performances after poor ones (such as the Italy game after the Belgium loss in France) comes good again tomorrow but that’s been three poor performances in a row since the win in Vienna and we’ve now found ourselves in the last chance saloon from a dominant position in the group three games ago.  Another concern is that the worst second place team doesn’t even qualify for a play-off and there’s a real danger that without wins against Serbia and Wales, we could potentially finish second but still miss out that way. The team selected tomorrow will tell a lot about our ambition and Hoolahan surely has to play unless this ‘injury’ mentioned today is more serious than it seems.

Once we got out of the ground, we found an offie and sat outside with a drink waiting for the crowd to die down before getting a taxi back to the old town. I wound up having an interesting chat with a couple of lads in Ireland tops from Leipzig who had decided to follow Ireland after what they considered their team, East Germany, was disbanded following reunification. As far as they were concerned the Germany team didn’t represent them (and nor did franchise club Red Bull Leipzig) so they been following Ireland for a good few years. Certainly couldn’t accuse them of glory hunting anyway!

When we got back to the old town, a good mob of us went back to the restaurant that we’d eaten in the previous night and drowned our sorrows with some good food, good wine, a few glasses of the local grape brandy, chacha and a few songs. The frustration was subsiding a bit and things were put in perspective when we bumped into Danielle and Lexie, the daughter and granddaughter of a man no longer with us and who wasn’t far from our thoughts during the whole trip.  John ‘The Bear’ Dowling was a regular travelling member of the YBIG family who I’d met at many games home and away over the years and who unfortunately lost a brave battle with cancer a few short weeks ago at the dreadfully young age of 55. Even those who didn’t know him would surely have recognised his face and his infectious laugh, especially if they were the sort to nip outside of pubs for a cheeky ciggie or fancied a chat at the bar. The Bear would welcome and talk to anyone and he’ll be sorely missed on trips in future but it was great to see his family carrying on the tradition. Kudos to the FAI as well who had arranged for Danielle and Lexie to meet with the management and team and had provided a memorial key ring for all who travelled. YBIG had also had a flag printed up in his memory which was on display at the game.

My own favourite memory of him was an early morning drink the day after the Bosnia away play-off in Sarajevo when a couple of straighteners were required before heading to the airport. The Shake It Up Brady chant was beginning to catch on and a gang of us were giving it socks. Unbeknownst to me, Bear was filming away and by the time I got home, I had a message from a friend pointing me to a story on the Irish Independent. One click later and there’s a video of myself and the rest of the gang belting it out looking a little the worse for wear while Bear stayed safely out of shot! That said, he did have a little © John Dowling watermark on the bottom even though his face wasn’t in it!  

While I’ll miss his company on trips, it’s his family and close friends such as AidoM, Brianie Sligo Hornet, Mr and Mrs Moscow Mule and Claret Murph that I really felt for and I’m sure this first trip without him was very poignant. It did bring home to me that football is only a game after all, albeit a game that we’ll hopefully win tomorrow. Qualification for Russia next year would be a nice tribute to him. RIP Bear and hopefully we can do it for you.  

Post St Pats match interview with Bohs boss Keith Long

Q: A big win tonight and really a game of two halves?

Keith Long: Yeah, we had a fantastic second half, I was really pleased with it. We came out and set the tempo well. Oscar Brennan showed great desire and hunger to win the ball for the first goal. Then we saw great quality from Keith Ward to put the pass through for Dinny Corcoran which sliced open to Pats defence for the second chance and Ward did great again to set up George Poynton for to stick the third into the far corner. So really pleased with the performance in the second half especially after it had been so disappointing in the first. It’s a massive three points to get in Inchicore for us.

Q: How do you explain the contrast in the performance in each half?

KL: We were a little braver in the second half. I thought we showed Pats too much respect in the first half, we stood off and let them pass the ball around us a little bit. We brought Paddy Kavanagh on at half time and it could have been any of 5 or 6 we could have taken off, Kaleem Simon was the unlucky one. So we made some changes, tried to get after the game a little bit, press the opposition and play on the front foot. The opening goal came at a goof time to spark and ignite us and we grew from there.

Q: It’s a big three points and obviously a derby win, which is important to everyone at the club but to see yourselves moving up that table, starting the second half of the season that couldn’t be better overall?

KL: Well, in my time at Dalymount, we’ve been slow starting after the break so I stressed it when we came back in last Sunday after our break that we wanted to do well and put in a big performance. We’ve been good away from home this season but we let ourselves down in our last performance against Pats at Dalymount where they gave us a 4-0 beating in what was probably our worst performance of the season so we wanted to put in a big performance and gain some retribution and we did that tonight. We’re pleased, it’s a Dublin derby we wanted to win and I felt our second half performance deserved the three points. But we won’t be complacent in any shape or form, we have to show the hunger and desire that we showed in the second half throughout the campaign if we’re going to be safe.

Q: You’ve had trouble with strikers earlier in the season with Akinade out and Corcoran picking up an injury but Corcoran is now back and firing again and Akindae seems to be not too far away?

KL: Well, Dinny is crucial to us, we nearly have to wrap him in cotton wool, his goals have been vital for us throughout the season, he’s a great finisher. He didn’t get a lot of game time here at St Pat’s

last year but he does his business in a quiet fashion on the park and he scored goals and that’s what we like him to do. I was delighted for him tonight, particularly after the year he had last year here.

Q: What are your objectives now, are you looking at a place in Europe?

KL: Well, our objective is to stay in the Premier Division, there’s 6 or 7 teams here with not much between them. I mean. We’ve won tonight and extended our difference over Pats to eight points, had they won it would only been two so it’s very tight. The table is very congested and volatile, it changes every week so we can only focus on our own performance and try and deliver. Winning games is really important, we drew last time and were disappointed in that even though the draw against Drogheda was probably a fair result. We put in an excellent second half performance tonight and if we can continue to do that over the 90 minutes you’d like to think we can pick up some points along the way. But listen, it’s going to be very very tight with lots of twists and turns and ups and downs between now and the end of the year. Our primary objective is to stay in the division.

Q: The injury to Rob Cornwall?

KL: It’s his shoulder but it’s too early to say. He’s been very very good for us throughout the course of the season. Hopefully we can get him back on the pitch soon enough. Warren O’Hora came on and did well. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to select Warren all season as he had an offer of a scholarship to the States which he couldn’t take if he played for the first team. He’s been the captain of our Under 19’s but he’s made the decision now to try and get to the UK and now we can play him in the first team he can try and make that happen.  It’s like a new singing for us.

Q: You must have been delighted how the game finished considering how poor things were in the first half?

KL: Yeah, we were disappointed in the first half, we stood off Pats and allowed them too much time on the ball and showed then too much respect. I’m not sure why, our game-plan during the week was to try and press them high and win the ball high up the pitch and break from there. But first half we were off the pace so had to adjust things at half time. We came out strong in the second half and got an early goal. I felt we could kick on from there and thankfully we did. We got a second and third goal and overall I felt we looked very efficient and certainly had a clinical edge to us.

Q: All 3 goals were quote similar, breaking at pace with a good ball over the top with Corcroan and Ward causing problems.

KL: We asked Wardy to play higher up the pitch as a 10 rather than a 6 or an 8. He was dropping too deep between the lines and into the wrong lines on the pitch in the first half and playing more as a 6 instead of a 10. When he gets balls in that position, he has the quality and he sprung Dinny Corcoran with a sublime pass to split the Pats defence and Dinny doesn’t need a second chance, it was a cultured finish, he opened his body and slotted it in the corner.

Q: It was a great pass for the third as well, Ward had Dinny and Poynton to choose from and make the right decision.

KL: He did and Georgie has a couple of goals and assists for us since he moved out to the right. It’s a bit of a change for Georgie, he’s probably more renowned as a central player but he’s contributed with some goals and assist and that’s what you want your team to do. It was important after the break to come back and get the win and hopefully that will stand us in good stead.  

Q: How are things on the squad front?

KL: Izzy Akindae is now back in training, he played 45 minutes in a bounce game during the week and Steo Donnelly has come in from Usher so hopefully we can attract one or two more.

Q: Any further updates on injuries, how is Eoin Wearan doing?

KL: Well, as I said, Izzy is back training but is probably still a few weeks away, we have some friendlies pencilled in to try and get him up to speed. Eoin is probably ahead of schedule but obviously it is a cruciate. I wouldn’t rule him out for the entire season but it might be September before we see Eoin.

Q: I know there’s a member’s drive on at the moment to try and raise some funds for players.

KL: You look at the support tonight and you just think it’s a great club, I’m privileged to work for it, I really am. I’m proud to be the manager of Bohs, I really am. It’s important that we give them something to shout about, they support us through thick and thin. We’ve been disappointing at home this year, I’ve said that prior to the break but we’ve come away tonight and sent them home happy. If we can affect the team in a positive manner by recruiting some good players to strengthen us and improve the group that’s what we’ll try and do.  

Q: Reports this week that Gareth McCaffrey might be joining, any comment?

KL:  I don’t have a comment on that.

Q: Do you like him as a player?

KL: I don’t really want to comment or speculate on any particular player to be honest with you, Gareth McCaffrey is a free agent, he played against us for Rovers and did well when we went to Drogheda but the window isn’t open for another fortnight and won’t comment on any player until he’s signed and over the line so until then I don’t have anything to report. 

Revenge for Bohs at Richmond Park

St Patricks Athletic 1-3 Bohemian FC

Bohs took revenge for their 4-0 reverse to Pats earlier this season in an archetypal game of two halves at Richmond Park which leaves Pats firmly entrenched in the drop zone. The bunched up nature of the league this season, coupled with the fact that a quarter of the league will be relegated means that most games involving the teams from mid-table down are already becoming six pointers. The Northsiders will be delighted to pull further away in their first game back after the mid-season break.

Pats showed three changes with Peers, Barker and Cregg in for Kelly, Verdon and Kurtis Byrne while Bohs solitary change saw Simon in for the suspended Fitzgerald. The game started very cagily with the only action of consequence in the first half hour being the enforced change of Kurtis Byrne for Alex O’Hanlon. Although his namesake, Conan Byrne, had been growing more influential, when the lead goal came, it came through his substitute.

There seemed little danger on 40 minutes when O’Hanlon received the ball out left on 40 minutes but the Bohs defence stood off as he cut across the box and picked his spot. Bohs looked increasingly ragged at this point so Keith Long must have been happy to reach the break just the single goal behind.

Long made a change at half time with Kavanagh coming on for Simons but whatever he said to his players had the desired effect with Bohs starting the second half on the front foot and drawing level on 51 minutes. Again the defence looked favourites when the ball came to Brennan but he used his strength well to hold off the attention and sweep the ball past O’Malley into the corner. That really sparked the game into life as both sides pressed for a second goal and it was Bohs talisman, Dinny Corcoran, who provided it. Conan Byrne had just another free kick saved by Supple and Bohs broke immediately, working the ball to Corcoran on the left from where he coolly beat the keeper.

The temperature was rising by now and a melee following a Bermingham foul on Poynton saw Brennan and O’Hanlon join him in the book after they squared off. Both sides continued to press but it was Bohs who made the game safe with the best goal of the night on 86 minutes. Again it came on the break with Keith Ward scampering through after Pats had committed men forward. He had the option of picking out Corcoran or Poynton and it was the latter he chose who made no mistake to clinch the game.

St. Patrick’s Athletic: Conor O'Malley; Lee Desmond; Ian Bermingham; Rory Feely; Conan Byrne, Graham Kelly; Jonathan Lumney; , Darragh Markey (Jack Baiyly 85); Christy Fagan; Kurtis Byrne (Alex O’Hanlon 21) Sam Verdon (Aidan Keena 75)

Subs Not Used: Barry Murphy; Ciaran Kelly; Steven Grogan; Billy Dennehy; Alex O’Hanlon

Booked: Bermingham, O’Hanlon

Bohemian FC: Shane Supple; Daniel Byrne; Rob Cornwall (Warren O’Hora 76); Derek Pender; Oscar Brennan; Ian Morris; George Poynton; Kaleem Simon (Paddy Kavanagh 46) ; Fuad Sule (Philip Gannon 66) ; Keith Ward; Dinny Corcoran

Subs not used: Greg Murray; Dean Casey; Eoghan Morgan; Jamie Doyle

Booked: Sule, Brennan, Byrne

Referee: Neil Doyle

Only The Names Have Changed

So, in typical Irish fashion, a game that we probably should have lost but could have won in the last ten minutes ends up a draw. It really shouldn't have come as a surprise as these sort of results are exactly what we've been getting against teams similarly ranked to ourselves going back to the days of the Jack Charlton era.

While we've produced some big wins against top seeds such as Spain, Holland and Germany over the years, the amount of home draws going back to Scotland in 1986, covers almost every campaign up to the draws against Poland and Scotland again last time out. In fact, only World Cup '90, Euro 2000 and strangely enough, Steve Staunton's ill fated Euro '08 campaign buck the trend with yesterday's opponents already featuring having secured a two all draw during the World Cup '14 campaign.

And now we have another frustrating result to add to the list. No matter how often the players or management change, familiar failings recur.

The pleasant weather during the walk across the city had switched to torrential rain and back again over the course of the afternoon but had settled into a fine summer's evening as the hours ticked by to kick off. With this being such a vital game, we had our full compliment of eight season ticket holders present and pretty much our whole ex pat away crew had come over with the Brummies and the rest of the UK dwellers all present as well as Gary and Lina from the Dam and the Quinn Towers all the way down from Newry.

The Beggars was pretty packed with plenty of Austrian fans enjoying the craic and both sets of fans displaying the sort of misplaced optimism that never seems to get knocked out of football fans who should know better!

Having set my preferred team out in last week's Uruguay blog, I have to confess to being disappointed when news of the team came through. For all Martin O'Neill's talk of going at Austria from the start, this was a team picked and set up not to lose the game.

While playing Kevin Long at centre half was a surprising call, persisting with Darren Randolph in goal, when many had been calling for Kieren Westwood, was less so. However, it was his midfield selection that signalled his intent with Glenn Whelan in the anchor role and no place for Wes Hooahan further up the pitch.

I actually quite like Whelan and think that some of the criticism he has taken over the years, particularly from Eamon Dunphy has been unwarranted and has been scapegoating at its worst. However, it's my belief that Harry Arter can play in that deeper role and would offer more fluency going forward. Jeff Hendrick could then drop further back as he's clearly not a number 10 and that would create space for Hoolahan in that 10 role.

I can understand why O'Neill might have concerns about playing less defensively against a Germany or other top level side, against the mid ranking teams we should be prepared to be less cautious and given how well we played with Hoolahan in the team for the reverse fixture in Vienna, it was a very conservative team selection to leave him out. There is also an argument that, at 35, Hoolahan may not have the legs for 90 minutes but I'd counter that by saying start him and give him 60 minutes or so to try and win the game rather than 30 at the end to save it.

The fact that Austria were missing five of the players that played in the Vienna game due to suspension, injury, retirement and even a players wedding emphasised how negative a selection it was as the opposition were there for the taking.

We arrived at our usual spot as the anthems were being played and it was great to see Lansdowne Road full for the second qualifier in a row. The atmosphere in the Singing Section was good as ever with the brass band that had been present for the Wales game thankfully binned.

The game itself started pretty cagily in contrast to the "going to war"analogies peddled by Roy Keane before the game as both sides started to feel each other out. Austria were playing more of the football but we were dealing with it comfortably enough, By the time we got halfway through the half, the game had degenerated into a very scrappy affair.

Our first chance of note came on the 23 minute mark when Whelan, who actually had a reasonable game, played Stephen Ward in down the right wing. Ward's cut back was laid off perfectly by James McClean (who seemed to have swapped positions with Hendrick by now) for Jon Walters but, instead of just putting his laces through it, his attempt at a side footed finish went horribly wrong and the ball went high and wide.

That seemed to rouse Austria somewhat and a succession of corners on the half hour mark eventually led to the opening goal. It was a well worked corner in fairness but it really could have been defended better. David Alaba played the corner in low and hard and the fact that both Prodl and Dragovi dummied it seemed to cause a bit of confusion in our defence. By the time the ball reached Hinteregger, we'd been stretched and he made no mistake with a sweetly hit finish into the bottom left corner. Had we had a defender stationed on the near post he'd have been able to clear it off the line but without that there was no chance of Randolph or anyone else keeping it out. 1-0 Austria but would that prove to be a wake up call?

The short answer was no as we reached half time without managing a shot on target the whole half. Things surely had to improve in the second half but in my opinion it was going to take a personnel and tactical change to do it.

Half time saw no changes but there did seem to be a better intensity to our play after the restart. A Duffy header went wide early on. Austria were still looking dangerous on the break but we were pushing them further and further back without creating anything clear cut.

The change when it came didn't see Hoolahan come on as hoped with Daryl Murphy replacing Ward resulting in a shuffle to the formation as Robbie Brady moved to left back and we switched to a 4-4-2. It was a decent change to make as Walters had been a little isolated and the physical presence offered by Murphy was likely to cause problems for the Austrians.

We were clearly going even more route one but despite a number of free kicks and corners, we still hadn't created a huge amount but at least had a bit of a head of steam up. Hoolahan was finally introduced on 70 minutes but I was surprised that it was Arter, who is our best passer of the ball after Hoolahan, to make way.

The crowd were now really getting behind the team now and there was a sense that something might be coming. Hoolahan nearly made an immediate impact by playing a fabulous cross that fizzed across the box but Murphy couldn't stretch enough to connect with it and an Austrian defender was able to steer it back to his keeper.

The final sub followed shortly with Aiden McGeady on for Whelan with thirteen minutes left as we went more attacking to try and salvage something from the game. We thought we'd done it on 80 minutes when Long got onto a Brady corner but, unlike us in the first half, Austria had a defender on the post who cleared it off the line. Four minutes later Randolph justified the decision to stick with him as he made a great save to deny Grillisich and keep the game alive.

Things were very frantic now as time ticked by and myself and the rest of our crew were at the stage when we'd have taken your hand off for a draw given how little time was left. But none of us could have predicted just how frenetic things would get as the last three minutes of the 90 plus the four minutes stoppage time provided more incident and talking points than the previous 87!

The equaliser, when it finally came was route one at it's finest and, like Shane Long's Germany goal, any Jack Charlton side would have been proud of it. There didn't seem to be much danger when Brady launched a clearance high up the pitch with Walters having Prodl and Dragovic for company as he chased it. Prodl was looking a big leggy and left Dragovic to deal with the danger but Walters put him under serious pressure and cleverly used his strength to disrupt Dragovic's balance and ease him to one side.

There was still plenty to do as the ball bounced a second time but Big Bad Jon never took his eye off it and arrowed a cracking volley into the far corner. Lift off in the stands and suddenly Austria looked very vulnerable and the team scented blood.

Captain Fantastic!

Lansdowne Road was still bouncing ninety seconds later and went into another stratosphere for ten seconds or so before the Spanish referee painted himself as the villain of the piece. McClean was running riot on the left by now and some more direct running had resulted in a corner which Brady swung in. Murphy managed to get his head to it but it looked like Linder had it covered in the Austrian goal. That didn't stop Grillisich deciding to take matters in his own hands and take responsibility for clearing it. However, all he succeeded in doing was slice his clearance high into the air and back towards the near post where Lainer was still stationed on the goal-line with Walters for company.

It was clear that he didn't fancy clearing it as you could see him looking at what was coming in rather than solely focusing on the ball. What was coming in was Duffy who only had eyes for the ball. Whether Duffy should have gone for it is debatable as there was a fair chance the ball was dropping in anyway and Walters looked in a good position to get to it regardless. I'm loath to blame Duffy for going for it though but by leading with his arm, he gave the referee a chance to give the decision against him,

You can generally tell if a foul has been committed by the reaction of the opposition and I think it's telling that none of the Austrians were complaining as they all expected the goal to be allowed despite Lainer ending up in the net as Duffy bundled ball and man home. Even Austrian defender Prodl admitted the goal should have stood after the game and had this been a Premier League game I've no doubt it would have been awarded.

Anything Wrong?

Looking at it in real time, no one in the South Stand saw anything wrong and the ecstatic celebrations were going for a good ten seconds or so before the realisation that it had been disallowed dawned on people. Still, there wasn't much time for the disappointment to sink in. Ireland instantly regained possession and another ball over the top sent Walters through but just as he lined his shot up, Lainer came running across behind him meaning that Walters connected with him as he drew his leg back. This sent Walters tumbling and took all the pace off his shot which ended up sending the ball wide to McGeady instead of at the goal.

Everyone including myself screamed for a penalty but the ref wasn't having it. McGeady tried to pick out a cross to the two men on the far post as Walters lay prone but he couldn't get beyond the defender with it. The ball then came back to Hoolahan who fluffed a shot and Austria hacked it clear. They were looking so ragged now that it felt like a second goal was inevitable but once the four minutes of stoppage time were signaled the Austrians settled somewhat and despite our best efforts we failed to create anything as clear cut as we had in the previous ten minutes and had to settle for the draw. The question is why we had to wait until so late in the game to start playing the sort of football needed to win games like this.

Goals and Highlights

The management and players were uniform in their criticism of the referee after the game and they have a point in some instances. On a number of occasions, the ref looked like awarding a free only to let play develop for a minute to see if an advantage would develop. That's all well and good but each time it became clear straight away that there was no advantage he simply let the play go rather than go back for the free.

Disallowing the goal was harsh although he can point to how high Duffy had his arm as he jumped. For the penalty shout I think he probably got it right having seen the replay, There was also a clear back pass in stoppage time that their keeper picked up he missed as well though which could have given us a free in a great position.

More importantly, the management and team also need to take a look at themselves. Why do we react so badly to any situation where we're deemed favourites? Our mindset seems to be set to underdog mode meaning that we're at our best when we're up against it. This is well and good against the top teams and has served us well against Germany, Italy and even for sixty minutes against France.

However, there are numerous games we can point to where a more positive mindset could have yielded better results. Scotland and Poland home and away in the last campaign and now Wales and Austria at home in this one, for example. The one game where we seemed to embrace the pressure to dominate at home in the last campaign was the play off against Bosnia.

Given that Hoolahan started all three games I've mentioned in the last campaign, it's not as simple as some would have you believe that his inclusion turns us into world beaters. However, I think it's clear that his presence does alter the way we play. Simply having someone who's prepared to look for the ball and be positive with it encourages the other players into playing more positively. While he himself wasn't brilliant when he finally came on on Sunday and Whelan actually did quite well on an individual level, it's the ripple effect they have on the rest of the team and on the opposition that's relevant here.

As mentioned earlier, there's no reason why we can't play our best two passers of the ball in Hoolahan and Arter in the same team but it seems to a chance that Martin O'Neill isn't prepared to take.

The news that Serbia and Wales had drawn put a better complexion on things and softened the disappointment of the two dropped points with the table remaining as it was showing a four point gap separating Serbia and ourselves from Wales and Austria with one less game left. On the positive side, we proved yet again how difficult we are to beat and have another late goal to add to the list. After years of conceding late goals we're now the ones scoring them which is something in the credit column for the manager.

Next up is Georgia away which is always a tough game but one I'm really looking forward to as my travels haven't taken me to that country as yet so it'll be a first for me. A win there would set us up perfectly for the home game the following week against Serbia but who'd bet against that match ending up as a draw? One thing we don't do is make things easy for ourselves!      

Christie's Left Foot Writes Another Chapter

With nothing of value learned from the previous Thursday's Mexican stand-off in New Jersey, it was good to have another friendly before the serious business of next week's home qualifier against Austria and the Sunday evening of a bank holiday weekend was a nice time for it. With the rest of the squad joining those who had traveled, the expectation, as we strolled across town towards the Beggars, was that we'd see something a lot closer in terms of team selection and formation to what we'll see against Austria. From the opposition point of view, the absence of Luis Suarez due to the injury that kept him out of the Spanish Cup final was the main talking point. From our perspective, it was obviously a bonus that he was missing but, as a football fan, there was also a hint of regret that we'd miss the chance to see one of the best players in the world in action.

In keeping with the expected attendance, the Beggars wasn't as busy as you'd get for a competitive game but there was still a good crew there and the consensus was generally positive as news of a much changed team came through an hour before kick-off. Darren Randolph, Cyrus Christie and Shane Duffy were the only three who started in the States to hold their places, with Kevin Long, Stephen Ward, Glenn Whelan, Harry Arter, Jonny Hayes, Jeff Hendrick, Robbie Brady and Jon Walters coming into a more familiar looking 4-5-1 formation. After a bit of chat and the usual last minute delays as spare tickets were distributed, we made our way into the singing section. The smaller than normal crowd meant that the searches on entry were quicker than has often been the case recently so we were in our usual spot well ahead of kick-off. The attendance looked sparse enough with a number of season tickets and tickets bought as part of the duo package with the Austria game clearly not being used. Although, to be fair, the reported crowd of 27,000 was still almost double that of the one-all draw thirty one years ago against the same opposition in a game better known for the first goal of Jack Charlton's reign so it's not as if small crowds for end of season friendlies is a new thing! As usual, there was still a decent crowd in the singing section that did their best to get behind the team as the game kicked off.

Ireland v Uruguay 1986 Vintage

We started fairly positively, winning a free and then a corner early on but neither set piece came to anything. In the absence of Suarez, PSG's Edinson Cavani, was providing the star quality for Uruguay but his evening came to an early end when Randolph took a bit of a chance with a ball across his goalmouth that just evaded Cavani as he went full stretch for it. That was a lucky escape but also served to take Cavani out of the game as he seemed to pull something as he stretched and was soon signalling to his bench that his day was done. So, thirteen minutes in and Uruguay's first choice front pairing were now both absent. While the change was being prepared, another corner  was won following a Brady shot and from the resultant cross Duffy was inches away from making it one-nil but just failed to make contact with his diving header.

Once he finally joined the fray, I'm sure our defence was happier to be dealing with Cristhian Stuani of Middlesbrough rather than Cavani. To be fair, Stuani got involved fairly quickly forcing Randolph into a save and as the game settled down and moved towards the half-hour mark both sides were creating chances. First off, Urreta played in Laxalt for Uruguay who put the ball over the bar when he really should have scored. And within a couple of minutes they were regretting that as Walters scored a goal that both Suarez and Cavani would have been proud of.

One to Remember From Walters 

The ball had found its way to Brady on the right after a challenge on Whelan. Whelan then played it into Walters who had his back to goal at the edge of the box. Walters' touch to control was a little heavy, which seemed to encourage Whelan to come back for the ball. This in turn encouraged one of the Uruguayan defenders to wave his leg at the ball which only succeeded in teeing it up for Walters. Big Jon still had a lot to do but produced a glorious finish as he lifted the ball over the keeper into the top corner.

This should really have been the trigger for us to push on but instead it powered Uruguay up a gear as they forced a number of set pieces over the next ten minutes. Having got away with it twice when a free from  Urretaviscaya was cleared by Duffy for a corner, from which Caceres then hit the bar, it proved third time lucky for the opposition. This time it was another free kick around the area that was lofted into a mass of bodies in the box by Sanchez. There seemed to be more than enough defenders there to deal with it but, in a worrying reflection of the late season form that cost him his place at West Ham, Randolph made the wrong choice in coming for it. Not having got close to claiming the ball, he was left in no-man's-land as Gimenez got a combination of his head and shoulder to the ball to loop it into the empty goal.

One to Forget For Randolph

In fairness, that was the cue for Ireland to start playing again and a minute before half time Walters really should have put us back ahead after getting on the end of our best move of the half. Arter, who was having an excellent game, played a long diagonal ball which Coates failed to clear. The second ball made it's way out to Christie on the right wing who played a deep cross to Brady. He volleyed the ball back to Walters who was waiting two yards out. From our end of the ground everyone was convinced it was a goal and leapt up to celebrate only to unbelievably see the ball come back off the crossbar! It was one of the moments where you're struggling to believe your eyes and most of the half-time talk revolved around people trying to work out how he could have missed an open goal from there, especially after scoring such a cracker earlier in the game. I'd expect Walters has taken some ribbing about it but that's football, I guess.

One to Forget For Walters

The start of the second half saw a couple of changes as Wes Hoolahan replaced Whelan and, in what may prove to be significant given recent form, Kieren Westwood came on for Randolph in goal. As Uruguay had also made three subs, it was a bit of a scrappy start to the second half and in keeping with that, it was a somewhat scrappy lead goal that put Ireland back in front on 49 minutes. Uruguay were finding it hard to clear their lines, a couple of Irish balls weren't cleared beyond thirty yards. The ball was eventually played to Christie on the right. Although he was covered, a nice little body swerve bought him a bit of space and Christie's left foot was deployed to great effect once again! I've seen a couple of people argue that it was an effort at a cross but I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt as what was a fairly weakly hit effort rolled into the far corner. It was actually quite reminiscent of his goal away to Gibraltar in the last campaign only hit with his left rather than the outside of his right. Either way, it's encouraging to see Christie step up in Seamus Coleman's absence so I was delighted to see him get his goal and play as well as he did. I've been impressed by him when he's been called on despite concerns over his defensive positioning. He's obviously not at Coleman's level but he's proving himself a more capable deputy than many thought he would.

Chrstie's Left Foot!

The game was actually being played at a pretty decent tempo for a friendly but as it reached the hour mark, a further raft of substitutions broke things up a bit more with Aiden McGeady, Alex Pearce and Daryl Murphy on for Hayes, Duffy and Walters followed by Federico Ricca being replaced by Pereira for the visitors. A disallowed effort from Stuani had us worried for a second before we saw the flag and Westwood comfortably dealt with one effort as well as pulling off a great stop from Giminez  before the final Irish sub came on for Hendrick and finished the game as a contest.

James McClean has really stepped up since being brought into the side for the Italy game at the Euros. As I've written before, he's been our player of the qualifiers so far and is nailed on to start next Sunday in my opinion. Having captained the team for Thursday's game in New Jersey on his 50th cap, the fact that he didn't start this game can be discounted and even if there was any doubt, he surely dispelled it with his cameo here. Within three minutes of entering the fray, a loose Silva pass deep in Irish territory was cut out by Hoolahan who helped it on to Murphy. Murphy, in turn, played a ball more akin to something Wessi himself would have pulled off to give McClean something to chase. Finding himself in a footrace with Giminez, McClean put the burners on and hurdled a last gasp challenge from the Uruguay defender before advancing on goal and dispatching it past Conde. It was a very confident finish and was essentially a carbon copy of his finish from the same position in Vienna last November. 3-1 on 77 minutes and that nearly became four as McClean again came through on the same wing only to be tackled by Giminez just as he was about to shoot. He could potentially have got the shot off earlier but that's being hyper-critical to be honest.

McClean as a Whistle

A couple of Uruguay shots that gave Westwood no trouble and the announcement of Harry Arter as man of the match (I'd have given it to Christie) were all to report from the rest of the game and, given that Uruguay are ranked 15th on the world, it was an encouraging performance and win ahead of next weekend's vital qualifier against Austria. Having learnt nothing from the Mexico game, there's plenty of food for thought after this game with potentially a couple of places up for grabs.

Randoph's form in goals was a concern before this game and that concern won't have been allayed by the Uruguay goal. I've always rated Westwood but Randolph has taken his chance well since coming in for Shay Given and has never let us down in a competitive game. He's actually been very good for us in general. I'd personally play Westwood but I think O'Neill will stick with Randolph, I just hope that's not a mistake. He's a loyal manager but there's an argument that he stuck too long with Given last campaign when he could have done better for the goals at home to Poland and possibly Scotland (although the two deflections on the latter probably give him a pass on that). O'Neill doesn't seem to trust Westwood going back to their time together at Sunderland, even his praise of him after Sunday was tempered with a comment about having to have his head right. “I knew Westy at club level and you know my view of Westy - he's a really talented goalkeeper. Just get his head right and he's great". This indicates to me where he's leaning for that position.

Christie and Ward will start at full-back as will Duffy at centre-half.  Kevin Long was possibly a surprising choice to start v Uruguay and has had a great end to the season after making his Premier League bow with Burnley and now winning a couple of caps. But I think he's very unlikely to start and wouldn't be surprised to see John O'Shea slot back in, although it's a toss-up between him and Richard Keogh.

It's in midfield where the big decisions are to be made. Harry Arter's career for Ireland has been stop-start to say the least with Sunday being only his fourth cap since making his debut two years ago. He's come in for what I would deem to be unfair criticism about his commitment, mostly down to some ill-informed comments made by Paul Merson who suggested he should be in the England squad even though he'd already played for Ireland against England at that stage. A combination of personal issues and injuries have hampered his Ireland career since then and the fact that he has missed a couple of squads only to play for his club the following weekend has added more fuel to the criticism. In fairness, some of our greatest players in the past (Ronnie Whelan and Roy Keane to name some of the more high profile ones) have had similar criticism aimed at them so it's hardly a new thing. Judging him on how he played in his competitive debut v Austria in November and his performance on Sunday, then he has to play in my opinion. Glenn Whelan has been a great servant but as he was the one that was dropped during the Euros and only got back in through injury, his place has to be under threat even in the absence of James McCarthy. McClean, Brady and Hendrick are nailed on to start so Whelan's place will really come down to whether O'Neill is prepared to play Wes Hoolahan in the Number 10 with Walters up front. If he does, then a starting XI of Randolph, Ward, Duffy, Keogh (Or O'Shea), Christie, McClean, Arter, Brady, Hendrick, Hoolahan, Walters looks the best team to pick with the alternative being that Walters moves out right, most likely at the expense of Hoolahan with Hendrick moving further inside and Murphy starting up front.

Whatever team he puts out, there's no doubt that the squad will have been given a boost by the manner of the victory on Sunday, albeit that it was only a friendly. Given that a win would essentially get rid of Austria by opening a seven point gap, hopefully we'll see something that shows some attacking intent.