Live updates: Ireland V Bulgaria

Join extratime.ie's Alan Smith from 7pm for minute by minute updates as Ireland take on Bulgaria in a pivotal Group 8 qualifier (kick-off 7.45pm).

As always, you can email us with your views. The address is extratimelive@gmail.com and we'd love to hear from you.

IRELAND 1-1 BULGARIA-



9.40: We hope you enjoyed tonight's updates, despite obvious dissapointment with the result. Stay tuned for the match report which will be live within minutes and make sure to keen an eye out for the best in post-match reaction. From me Alan Smith, and the rest of the extratime team, good night!

9.38: Boo's ring around Croke Park. This Bulgaria's fourth draw in a row. Simply not good enough after such a great start. The gap remains the same between second and thirs in Group 8 but the Irish didn't show much going forward and it ends in dissapointment.

9.37: Into the final minute...

9.35: Kevin Doyle heads a Keith Andrews cross straight at the goalkeeper. Great chance but poor heading.

9.34: Kishishev is booked for dissent. Ireland now make a substitution with just a couple of minutes remaining as Andy Keogh replaces McGeady. Is Trap playing for the draw? Surely not?

9.32: Time is running out now for Trap's men. On a side note, is it really necessary for there to be so many stewards at Irish internationals?

9.28: Robbie Keane hits a curling right footed effort narrowly wide from a tight angle, with six minutes remaining.

9.26: Bulgaria are temporarily down to ten men, as McGeady hits a wild shot miles off target.

9.23: With just over ten more minutes to go, can the Irish do it? We certainly hope so but the Irish haven't looked great going forward in the absence of Duff.

9.20: Meanwhile, Italy double their lead.

9.19: DISASTER! Kilbane plays the ball into his own net after Petrov plays the ball across goal at the back post from a Kishishev's cross. 1-1.

9.16: Italy are still leading 1-0.

9.14:Great work from Doyle but there were no other Irish players in support of the Reading striker.

9.13: Into the final quarter of the game, it looks like a tense twenty minutes are in store.

9.11: Ivankov makes a poor stop and can only parry to McGeady, but the winger's shot is saved by the Bulgarian goalkeeper.

9.10: Makriev replaces Georgiev for Bulgaria's final substitution.

9.08: "Ivankov disproved the notion of 'leggings = dodgy keepers' with that save from Keane. May yet drop a clanger though"- the ever observant Alan Dooley at Croke Park.

9.06: Interestingly, McGeady is now playing on the left, a straight swap with Stephen Hunt.

9.04: An Aiden McGeady corner comes to nothing after Ivankov slices a clearance.

9.03: Terrible tackle from Kishishev on McGeady and from the rsulting free kick, taken by John O'Shea, Keane shoots straight at Ivankov.

9.01: Manolev is booked for Bulgaria after hechops down Hunt on the half way line with a 100% cynical foul.

8.58: Kishishev shoots from 25 yards and the ball is deflected wide by his own team-mate and it results in an Irish goal kick.

8.56: Bulgaria have some good posession but do very little, as John O'Shea clears.

8.53: 60,002 inside Croke Park tonight and to be fair to them, they have made some noise.

8.52: A quiet enough start to the second period as Given clears a long ball from the Bulgarians out for a throw on the Cusack stand side.

8.49: Dimitrov replaces Popov, the second of Bulgaria's changes.

8.48: Teams are back onto the pitch and it is Ireland who are kicking off, defending the Hill 16 end of the ground.

8.41: Next up is Bernard Dunne who shows off his belt and he deservedly laps up the applause.

8.38: Eric Barber is being introduced on the pitch at Croke Park as the Eircom legend for the game, while Katie Taylor receives a great ovation from the big crowd inside the ground.

8.37: Thanks to Andrew McCarten for his email to extratimelive@gmail.com, this is what he has to say: "Hey there, fan from the US. Great start,good for Richie to get a goal however rest of the half Bulgaria getting the better. Interesting to see how long Trap will have the lads push for a 2nd, what subs will be made as well. Delaney could well come on as Killer Kev looking a bit vulnerable. On the lads!"

8.33: It's half time. It hasn't been pretty but Trappatoni will be happy with the lead. Lets hope for an improvement in quality after the break, but it is the win that ultimately matters. Italy are still leading at half time against Montenegro.

8.31: Now into the first of two minutes added time.

8.30: Robbie Keane looked to have broken through but the linesman raises a late, yet correct, flag and Bulgaria win a free kick for offside.

8.28: Great ball over the top from Kevin Kilbane but it is just out of the reach of Kevin Doyle.

8.24: Italy are still winning 1-0. Wednesday's game, regardless of tonight's results will be an absolute cracker.

8.22: "Kilbane getting scorched but Kevin Doyle and Robbie Keane are working off each other well"- Alan Dooley

8.20: Rangelov shoots over. Poor effort.

8.19: Popov was almost in but was halted by an offside flag. McGeady then does well on the right for Ireland and wins a corner.

8.18: Good work from Ireland there and a Glenn Whelan volley flashes wide with 32 minutes on the clock.

8.16: Ireland haven't really done much since the goal attack wise. Robbie Keane was just judged offside and the Bulgarians pressurise the Irish defence again.

8.14: Great play from the Bulgarians and Georgiev should have scored, however, Given managed to gather the tame shot.

8.13: "Trappatoni is constantly prowling the technical area, constantly pointing, gesticulating and analysing every facet of play."- Alan Dooley

8.10: We hit the 25th minute mark and it would be foolish for anybody to suggest that the Irish will definitely win as Bulgaria have battled well all over the pitch. The Irish are unecessarily squandering posession at times.

8.08: Milanov is to leave the pitch. He will be replaced by Kishishev.

8.07: Bulgaria haven't been rattled by the concession of an early goal and have played some decent stuff.

8.05:Glenn Whelan shoots straight at the goalkeeper, while Milanov returns to the pitch.

8.01: A booking for Bulgaria's Milanov for a dive inside the box. He is now being stretchered off injured. Maybe it wasn't such a clear cut dive afterall.

7.59: The Italians have taken an early lead, thanks to a penalty from Pirlo in the 12th minute.

7.58: The whole ground is on its feet chanting- "Stand up for the Boys in Green."

7.56: "The goal was Dunne's 6th for Ireland and his first since that fateful day away to Cyprus- Alan Dooley at Croke Park.

7.54: It looks like Telkiyski and Georgiev are both pushing on for Bulgaria and it's like a 4 v 4 at the back.

7.52: Two Bulgarian corners in quick succession come to nothing and it all ends in a goal kick for Ireland.

7.49: Goof effort from Petrov but Given turned the ball round the post for a corner.

7.48: Great atmosphere inside the ground and so there should be after such a great start.

7.47: GOALLLLLLL!!!! Richard Dunne at the back post with a diving header after a Hunt ball from a free kick on the right. Great start.

7.46: And we're off

7.41: Anthems now being played.

7.39: Mary McAleese is now meeting the two teams as well as the officials. I wonder does she know the Irish players by now? I'd certainly hope so.

7.36: Teams are now emerging from the tunnel as we await the formal stuff.

7.33: Georgia have pulled one back in Group 8 against Cyprus. Perhaps I jinxed them?

7.30:'Bohs2008' left a comment at the bottom of the page and he says: "I'm going for 2-1 to Ireland also... no doubt they'll frustrate the living daylights out of every Ireland fan before doing so though. McGeady to get the winner... about time he found the net in an all green shirt." I hope McGeady scores too as I've had a small bet on the Celtic winger to score the first goal.

7.20: The Cypriots have doubled their advantage against Georgiar and they will surely now have three points in the bag.

7.14: "Irish outfielders involved in a little one touch five-a-side.....Shay Given fielding shots from different angles. Same for the Bulgarians, except they're taking as many touches as they like."- Alan Dooley live from Croker.

7.11: It's cold but there is no wind worth talking about at Croke Park. Perfect conditions for football.

7.04: Small enough crowd in the ground at present with about 40 minutes to go until kick off. Elsewhere around the world, Northern Ireland have won 3-2, Wales were already defeated this afternoon at home to Finland, England are winning at Wembley and Burkina Fasso are beating Guinea 2-0 in African Group 5.

6.58: The boys in green are now coming onto the pitch as the crowd builds in Croker. The officials are also out on the pitch, all four are from Croatia.

6.56: "One of the benefits of covering Irish games you can watch a monitor of the RTE studio before it goes live across the nation." - our man Alan Dooley with one of the best seats in the house in the press area of the Hogan Stand. Meanwhile, on the pitch the Bulgarians have just come onto the pitch to begin their warmup. They're given a standing ovation from the vociferous support on the Hill 16 side of the Cusack Stand.

6.55: Rembember you can email us with your thoughts on the game, the address as always is extratimelive@gmail.com, or alternatively do what 'apenrose888' has done below and leave a comment.

6.51: BULGARIA: Ivankov; Stoyanov, Milanov, Angelov, Tomasic; Manolev, Telkiyski, Petrov, Popov, Georgiev; Rangelov. Subs:Petkov, Kishishev, Dimitrov, Yankov, Maknev, Todorov, Topuzakov.

6:48: IRELAND: Given; McShane, Dunne, O’Shea, Kilbane; McGeady, Whelan, Andrews, Hunt; Keane, Doyle. Subs: Delaney, Kelly, N Hunt, Gibson, Kiely, Keogh

6.44: Is Boruc playing for Nothern Ireland? His kicking is awful and is doing his side no favours. Atmosphere is starting to build now at Croke Park with an hour to go and the confirmed lineups should be in within minutes.

6.36: A comedy moment to warm us up before the main event, as Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc failed to connect with a backpass and the ball trickled into the net to make it 3-1. Hilarious!

6.35: Some latest scores that may be of interest: Northern Ireland are beating Poland 2-1 at present with just over an hour gone. In Group 8, it's currently 1-0 Cyprus who are playing Georgia at Limassol. Emile Heskey scored early on for England in their friendly against Slovakia, that one doesn't really matter though, does it?

6.30: With just over an hour to go until Ireland take on Bulgaria, the pitch at Croke Park has just been watered pretty heavily and the Irish squad have just had a walk around the pitch but are now gone back to the dressing rooms.

1.00: Giovanni Trappatoni has already announced a provisional line-up for the tie. He will be without Damien Duff who has returned to England for treatment on a knee injury, however he will have Aiden McGeady fit who came through training in Malahide yesterday unscathed. Stephen Hunt will replace Duff on the left wing but other than that the Irish side has a familiar look to it.

The Bulgarians are expected to play in a 4-3-3 formation but will be without Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov who was injured in club action last weekend. The Irish will have to keep an eye on Aston Villa's Stillian Petrov who will look to put pressure on the Irish wing-backs from the off.