- Gareth O'Reilly
- Sat, Jun 13 2015
An unlucky deflection one minute into the second half may well have closed the book on Ireland’s Euro 2016 qualification campaign. Martin O’Neill’s animated performance on the sideline means he more than likely knows it as well.
Right from the off this Irish crowd were determined to be the twelfth man with every Irish touch being greeted by roars of encouragement from the home supporters.
The Irish players were also determined to play their part as Hoolahan and Walters both looked to break into the Scottish box while Coleman, who has struggled to produce his club form for his national side, also looked menacing in the opening minutes.
Despite all this it was Steven Fletcher of Scotland who would have the best chance of the opening ten minutes but thankfully for Martin O’Neill, Shay Given produced a solid save to tip the shot over his crossbar.
Ireland were enjoying the majority of the possession but it was Scotland that were creating the better of the chances as we neared the quarter of an hour mark. Brady’s was guilty of overhitting crosses early on whilst Whelan fired over from 25 yards out when he possibly should have opted to retain possession.
Good link up play from Murphy and Walters, who were chosen by the former Celtic boss, to lead the Irish line meant that Irish fans could sense blood especially with the attacking full backs Coleman and Brady, streaking forward at every opportunity.
In fact things did turn bloody on the half hour mark when James McCarthy managed to leave a nasty looking gash on Russell Martin’s man head. The Everton man would enter the referee’s book for his trouble.
While another Everton star, Seamus Coleman, would continue to power on down the right wing his crossing was leaving a lot to be desired.
Murphy, a surprise inclusion to the starting line-up, forced Marshall to tip over his looping header. It was then from the resulting corner that Ireland would take the lead and send the fifty odd thousand fans into delirium.
As per usual Robbie Brady was the man to take, the Hull City man then delivered the perfect ball that was met by the head of captain John O’Shea whose header hit Jon Walters on the knee before the Stoke City man poked home from three yards out cue wild celebrations on both the home bench and on the pitch.
Two minutes before the break, once again from a corner, the Irish really should have doubled their lead as Brady’s corner was missed by Murphy’s foot when all that was left to do was to touch it home.
Sixty seconds into the second half and we were all level again as a Shaun Maloney shot took a vicious deflection off the back of John O’Shea leaving Given flat footed and picking the ball out of the back of his net.
Two minutes later and Ireland almost responded as Wes Hoolahan played through Daryl Murphy, however the strikers shot was brilliantly saved by David Marshall, with Walters seeing his follow up effort deflected away.
Ireland were once again enjoying most of the possession in the second half but they still nearly fell behind when half time substitute Ikechi Anya’s cross took a deflection and had to be touched to safety by the rapidly readjusting Given.
Murphy was proving his worth as he dispossessed Alan Hutton before seeing his cross diverted away when Walters was lurking at the far post.
Robbie Keane’s introduction with just under twenty minutes to go brought the Irish crowd to their feet, the LA Galaxy striker even managed to have a shot within five minutes but Marshall held it with ease.
Despite having three strikers on the pitch Ireland still could not score and so O’Neill called for more firepower with the introduction of fan favourite Shane Long for the final ten minutes of play.
With the referee’s decisions constantly seeming to go against the Irish and O’Neill and Roy Keane becoming more and more agitated on the sideline it was beginning to look like it was not going to be Ireland’s day. This point was almost further proved when Nasimeath’s goalbound shot looked set to find the back of the net but for his teammate Fletcher’s accidental block.
A couple of late crosses were all the Ireland could muster up however as a packed Aviva Stadium departed for home with the voices of the Scottish fans loudly ringing in their ears. Is the book closed on yet qualification campaign? More than likely, but only time will tell.
Republic of Ireland: Shay Given, Seamus Coleman, Marc Wilson, John O’Shea, Robbie Brady; James McCarthy, Glenn Whelan (James McClean 67), Jeff Hendrick, Wes Hoolahan (Robbie Keane 73), Jon Walters; Daryl Murphy (Shane Long 80).
Subs Not Used: David Forde, Keiren Westwood, Richard Keogh, Aidan McGeady, David Meyler, Cyrus Christie, Stephen Ward, Stephen Quinn, David McGoldrick.
Yellow Cards: Whelan (20), McCarthy (30), McClean (88).
Scotland: David Marshall, Charlie Mulgrew, Russell Martin, Alan Hutton, Craig Forsyth; James Morrison, Shaun Maloney, Scott Brown (James McArthur 85), Steven Naismith (Christophe Berra 90+2), Matt Ritchie (Ikechi Anya 46); Steven Fletcher.
Subs Not Used: Craig Gordon, Craig Samson, Steven Whittaker, Darren Feltcher, Charlie Adam, Gordon Greer, Andrew Robertson, James Forrest, Leigh Griffiths.
Yellow Cards: Naismeith (88).
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA).
Attendance: 50,000 (estimate).
Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Jon Walters (Republic of Ireland).
