- Aaron Gallagher
- Sun, Jun 11 2017
By Aaron Gallagher at the Aviva Stadium
An outstanding second-half display saw Ireland rescue an all-important point on Sunday evening which extends their unbeaten run in qualification for Russia 2018 to six games in Group D in a pulsating 1-1 draw with Austria at the Aviva Stadium.
Much of the build-up to Sunday evening’s game was the chance Ireland had to consolidate their place at the head of Group D and perhaps even go top were Serbia to slip up against Chris Coleman’s Wales.
Following wins against Georgia, Moldova and Austria up to this point, three wins and no losses from their opening five games, Ireland’s chances at securing qualification for a first World Cup in 15 years looked incredibly likely even at this early stage.
But draws against Wales and Austria at home — games when it mattered most — have complicated matters and ensured qualification is not as straightforward an affair as it seemed when the Boys in Green walked off the pitch victories in Vienna following James McClean’s winner seven months ago.
In a week of preparation which built on the speculation of Martin O’Neill’s starting eleven, the Derryman left his only surprise to be his biggest: 26-year-old Stephen Long earning his first senior competitive start alongside Shane Duffy in central defence, with both John O’Shea and Richard Keogh dropped to the bench.
Long held his own on a night where his performance would be examined with scrutiny but it was the entire Irish setup which was at fault for Austria’s opener. A corner played towards the edge of the box was dodged strategically by both Sebastian Prodl and Aleksandar Dragovic in a moment of complete and utter lapse for the hosts.
The ball trickled menacingly before being struck by centre-back Martin Hinteregger bobbling into the bottom corner beyond the reach of Randolph to make it 1-0 to the visitors with just over half an hour on the clock.
In a game where Ireland were supposed to have so much dominance in terms of their results up to this stage added to Austria’s unending list of calamities which included no less than six absentees from when the sides met in Vienna, Martin O’Neill’s side looked sheepish and second best on most levels in the opening half.
Indeed when the sides went in at the break, Ireland had not registered a single shot on target inside 45 minutes with another damning statistic noting that Ireland had never won a competitive game under Martin O’Neill having gone a goal down.
With confidence building throughout the week to inflict a win on a hurting and vulnerable Austria — a loss could have signalled the end of manager Marcel Koller’s tenure — Ireland were now under the kosh to produce at home when the chips were down.
There was a sense that O’Neill’s charges could be letting a real chance to put distance between themselves and Austria through their hands.
An opportunity had presented itself and all Ireland had to do was accept the challenge and stand up to the plate. They had not shown any signs of doing so thus far, but a re-energized second half made a fight of it.
Austria battered Ireland with two chances in no less than four minutes thanks at the beginning of the second period thanks to the menacing trickery of David Alaba. Twice the Bayern Munich star had conjured up chances.
First Florian Kainz on the left wing cut the ball back to Alaba encroaching inside the penalty area following an untracked late run, but his effort was poor and wide.
Next the 24-year-old cut the ball back to his captain Julian Baumgartlinger who completely missed the ball in a second chance in quick succession for the visitors, with Ireland lucky to have escaped on both occasions.
A 1-0 deficit with forty minutes to play meant a result was more than achievable. If it was to be James McClean was always going to be the player to lead the charge, and he did on successive occasions during a positive spell for the hosts in front of goal.
In the first of three chances for Ireland Robbie Brady found Shane Duffy who loaded the ball towards the box where McClean offered yet another patented knock-down to Jon Walters.
Walters took a touch but it was too heavy. Possession fell to Harry Arter inside the box whose effort flew over the top of the crossbar.
Next a Mclean cross was cleared last ditch before the winger took ownness on himself to find the equalizer. The Derry winger had scored all three of Ireland’s last goals in qualification and almost looked set to have registered another.
A quick flash across the box saw possession exchanged to his favoured left boot. His effort, however, darted just wide of the post.
With fifteen minutes remaining it was all Ireland as chance after chance came but never saw the scoreboard light up.
Both Wes Hoolahan and Daryl Murphy were brought on to find a goal and the pair did link up to see the Newcastle striker’s header caught at the last by the unconvincing hands of Austria goalkeeper Heinz Lindner.
Even Kevin Long came close with a header which was cleared off the line once again.
Austria went up the other end to show they were not going to take their second half punishement entirely laying down — star man Alaba almost wrapped the game up with 10 minutes remaining but his sliding charge was marginally premature following an outstanding cross by Kainz on the left wing.
And yet when it looked most bleak after Ireland’s constant chances had gone unrewarded and when O’Neill’s side stared into the barrel of a devastating home defeat in a campaign of persistent highs, the man who had defined Ireland’s run to last summer’s European Championships had his say on this qualifying campaign.
A long ball reminiscent of that which Shane Long defeated the German’s with in 2015 saw Jon Walters slam the ball into the bottom corner with the most deft of strikes to turn the tables on what had looked like a first defeat in this campaign.
In a period of manic intensity It looked as though Ireland had almost snatched all three points minutes later when a long ball to nowhere came back down to earth to see Shane Duffy bundle the ball over the Austrian line.
However the defender was deemed to have raised his elbow too high in the process and the goal was ruled out.
Wave after wave of Irish attack defined the second half but in the dying stages a second goal could not be found just as the Austrians looked desperate for their torture to reach its end and the final whistle sound.
Another few minutes on the clock could have seen Ireland grab a second, but Martin O’Neill’s side will have to be happy with a point which maintains their unbeaten run in Group D.
Ireland: Darren Randolph; Cyrus Christie, Stephen Long, Shane Duffy, Stephen Ward (Daryl Murphy 56); Harry Arter (Wes Hoolahan 71), Glenn Whelan (Aiden McGeady 77), Robbie Brady, Jeff Hendrick, James McClean; Jonathan Walters
Subs not used: Colin Doyle, Kieran Westwood, Alex Pearce, John O’Shea, Richard Keogh, Jonny Hayes, Eunan O’Kane, Conor Hourihane, Daryl Horgan
Yellow Cards: Robbie Brady (29), Cyrus Christie (32)
Austria: Heinz Lindner, Stefan Lainer, Aleksandar Dragovic, Sebastian Prodl, Martin Hinteregger; Julian Baumgartlinger, Zlatko Junuzovic (Florian Grillitsch 79), David Alaba; Valentino Lazaro, Florian Kainz (Michael Gregoritsch 90), Guido Burgstaller (Martin Harnik 75)
Subs not used: Kevin Danso, Daniel Bachmann, Deni Alar, Florian Klein, Markus Kuster, Konrad Laimer, Louis Schaub, Stefan Stangl, Kevin Wimmer
Yellow Cards: None.
Referee: David Fernandez Borbalan (Spain)
Attendance: 51,700
Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Jonathan Walters
