Plane sailing for Trap's men

It was like being back in the good old days again...only with the addition of some paper airplanes!
 

The lush green carpet of the shiny new Aviva Stadium was littered with the handcraft of what seemed as many fans as will board aircraft next June for the Euro 2012 finals in Poland/Ukraine. The FAI's 'Go Green' cards were used in quite a different way to what was intended. It was one of those nights.

In the stands last night fans wound the clocks back to the shaky old days of the crippling Lansdowne Road, when Ireland saw the whole of the moon for the first time under Big Jack and the old place bounced in unison.
 

Big Jack and Il Trap might be worlds apart, but they both share one important achievement – they're the only men to have guided Ireland to the finals of the European Championship.
 

Dublin 4 on a big match night can be a scene to behold and for the first time in a long time there was a palpable sense of occasion around Ballsbridge last night as 51,151 fanatical fans witnessed a slice of history – the Boys in Green booking a place at a major finals for the first time ever on home soil.
 

New President Michael D Higgins – who's club president at Galway United - was afford a rapturous welcome by the Green Army as he took part in his first official sporting engagement.
 

Giovanni Trapattoni had penned his pre-match programme notes in advance of Friday's first leg in Tallinn – and the Italian obviously hadn't, like any of the rest of us who ventured back from the Baltic
state over the last few days, banked on the four-nil scoreline obtained in Estonia.
 

“Playing the second leg of this game at home is a small advantage but let us not delude ourselves that we have made it to the finals already,” Trapattoni wrote, his message unheeded by the fans, who arrived in party mood.
 

It was understandable – after all, it isn't too often that we get to qualify for major finals.
 

Scot Gary Mackay did it for us in Sofia back in 1987 when first we qualified for a big tournament, John Aldridge's brace of goals in Valletta in '89 got us to Italia '90, Alan McLoughlin's name is etched on the cover of the history book for his memorable hit in Belfast in 1993, while Shay Given helped preserve a lead under pressure in Iran in 2001 after a 2-0 win in Dublin.
 

Indeed, yesterday was the tenth anniversary of the clash with Iran in 2001 and the 22nd of the meeting with Malta in '89 that booked Ireland's place at the World Cup for the first time. November 15th truly is a great day for Irish football.
 

Somewhat fittingly, November 15th was also the day on which the last international took place at the 'old' Lansdowne – a Robbie Keane hat-trick and a 5-0 win over San Marino waving slán to a place that gave so many memories.
 

Yesterday was a throwback.
 

There was no pressure as Lansdowne Road rocked like the Charlton years - and a brief spell of Mick McCarthy's reign - following a 4-0 hammering of Estonia last Friday that had made the return leg
something of a formality.
 

Robbie Keane had turned down LA Galaxy's request to return Stateside early in advance of the MLS Cup final this weekend, and the Tallaght man was scampering about as if it was 2002 in the early moments.
 

The Boylesports representatives who had offered, from pitch-side, generous 6/1 odds on the Irish skipper being first on the scoresheet, must have breathed a little relieving sigh as Keane blasted just wide with a glorious chance in the 8th minute.
 

Just after the hour mark, the place erupted as Stephen Ward netted his second international goal, riffling in past stand-in 'keeper Pavel Londak, and it was party on.
 

Ward's long-serving predecessor at left-back, Kevin Kilbane, was watching from the stands having been brought over by Trapattoni to join the party, after 110-times capped 'Killer' was omitted from the squad and will, barring an injury crisis, have a watching brief next summer.
 

Five-nil ahead on aggregate, the only question now was how many would be between them at the end.
 

Shay Given denied himself the 54th clean sheet of his international career – which reached the 120 caps milestone on Tuesday – when he let in Martin Vunk's effort through an uncharacteristic error.
 

After a brief hush, the fans craved another Irish goal, desperate for their side to sign off on a winning note and give the Aviva's first full house the perfect send off.
 

That another goal didn't arrive seemed not to matter a jot as the party started and Dublin's fair city heard a crescendo of noise as the final whistle arrived. It was somewhat fitting that we celebrated a
draw with such fervour, but the numbers that mattered most was the aggregate scoreline – 5-1 confirming a tale of Irish dominance.
 

On the pitch, the players took their rightful plaudits in a euphoric lap of honour, Trapattoni and Marco Tardelli embraced and, inevitably, FAI CEO John Delaney took the chance to lap up the cheers of a nation gone mad.
 

The good old days are here again...roll on the summertime!