Ireland v Israel(2-2)

As a balding old cockney used to tell us at lunchtime on a Saturday, many years ago, football is a funny old game. This game started like we were going to annihilate our Israeli visitors. Two quality goals inside the first twelve minutes and we were absolutely cruising. Then almost inexplicably, we did an AC Milan and threw it all away. Like the Italian outfit in the Mickey Mouse Cup Final a week or two previously, we had a couple of gilt edged chances to snatch victory after being pegged back to all-square but we couldn’t force the ball home. Unlike the Milanese however, this game was part of an extremely important competition and we could be left to rue these two dropped points for a long, long time.

Family circumstances dictated I couldn’t attend this one and Donogh’s emigration-enforced absence from all things football meant that TPF had only a 60% turnout at Lansdowne on Saturday evening. I’m reliably informed however that the three lads got on quite well without us and were ably assisted by Stephen, Richie & Ciara. We got a great write-up (and picture !!!!) in the new Ireland fanzine – The Boys in Green, and the lads were also photographed by the Star on Sunday. Not a pretty sight to wake up to on a hungover Sunday morning !!!! However Niall will be pocketing €50 for his posing, the proceeds of which will be spent when we meet up next Sunday to see the Wexford footballers beat his beloved Dubs !!!!

After the disappointment and utter frustration of what happened in Tel Aviv a few short months ago, we desperately needed a good start today. The result in Tel Aviv and the way it had come about had sickened me more than any football game in a long time. I was so infuriated that I didn’t write a match report. I feared that if I had put into print back then what I thought about our manager, his tactical awareness & his players then I might never be allowed in to Lansdowne again. Best to bite my tongue !!! Eamon, by now easily the most travelled among us, was of course in the Holy Land to witness that shambles. Despite the result he had a great time and did plenty of promotional work for the site !!! We all met up again for the friendly against China a few days later and despite scribbling down my notes on the half deserted North Terrace, laziness got the better of me and I never published a synopsis of the nights events. Apologies to all avid readers of my column !!!!!

I must admit that when I saw our teamsheet it didn’t exactly fill me with confidence. I know that Finnan, Carr & Maybury were out so that Ian Harte’s return was inevitable. However when I see his name on an Ireland team, I am automatically filled with fear and dread. Don’t get me wrong – this isn’t a one-man crusade against the chap and I have willingly wrote positively about him when he has played well in a green shirt. However the bottom line is that he can’t defend & has absolutely no positional sense. The one thing he can do though (and in my opinion is one of the best in the world at executing) is taking free-kicks from 25 to 30 yards from goal. As soon as the ref blew for a free kick a few yards outside the Israeli box after only 5 minutes of play, I strongly fancied him to bury it. The only thing that surprised me was that it wasn’t right in the corner and he allowed the keeper get his hand to it. Despite this flailing Israeli hand, there was no stopping Hartey’s thunderbolt and we were one up. Despite the match being only a few minutes old this could actually have been our second as Robbie Keane was bundled over in the box a minute or two earlier and could easily have had a penalty.

There were only 11 minutes on the clock when our advantage was doubled. And what a goal. Andy Reid played Robbie in with a through ball straight from the Liam Brady Book of quality through balls. Exquisite. Robbie still had to finish it though and he made it look so easy with a delicate lob/flick over the advancing keeper. Marvellous goal. How the hell had we managed not to beat this mob over in Tel Aviv. We were so superior to them it was unreal. Robbie netted again before the half hour mark but he was correctly judged to have been marginally offside. Shortly after this Robbie had to depart the scene with a shoulder injury and was replaced by Kavanagh. And so began our demise. The duffer was pushed up front and Kilbane took his place on the left. For some reason our grip on the game had been loosened and the visitors came a lot more into it although they never really troubled our goal.

Five minutes before the break they were given a free out on the left following a Mattie Holland tackle. Never a foul but this Greek ref made some very strange decisions this afternoon and giving a free-kick for this was one of them. Good delivery and their number 3 got there just ahead of Kenny to plant an unstoppable header past Shay. Good goal but I’ll say it again – It was never a free !!!! Something strange happens Irish teams these days when we concede a goal.. They seem almost nervous & scared shitless that they might let in another. Talk about playing within themselves. On the stroke of half time came further disaster. John O’Shea, who seems to suffer more than most with this ‘becoming crap when a bit of pressure is put on’ disease showed all the ball control of a six year old schoolgirl to loose the ball on our right. The Israelis eventually worked the ball into our box where the Waterford donkey decided to shove over the attacker. Penalty. Alright, I might be a bit harsh in that it wasn’t much of a shove but there was contact & the way his luck is going in green shirt, the ref was always going to point to the spot. O’Shea has been crap for a long time now and not turned into half the player I thought we were going to see when he arrived on the scene a few years back. He’s had enough chances now and continues to fluff them. He doesn’t even have the saving grace of being a world-class free taker. Taxi. On the third attempt the spot kick was duly dispatched into Shay’s net and we went in level at half time when I’m sure most people thought after the first 15 mins that we would be four or five up.

There’s not much to say about the second half. We huffed and puffed but couldn’t blow their house down. The Duffer, who didn’t exactly have one of his better games in a green shirt, even managed to clear an Andy Reid effort off their line. That really summed up the second half. No matter what we did, we were never going to score. Their keeper and his histrionics frustrated players and crowd even more and eventually he got Andy O’Brien sent off for feigning injury following an imaginary headbut. What a scumbag. The nation willed the lads forward but we just couldn’t find a way through. While all 34,000 in the ground and millions of Irishmen (and women) throughout the world watching on TV bit fingernails, hurled expletives at the cheating Israeli keeper, chainsmoked cigarettes and generally got wound up to the brink of explosion, the camera panned to a shot of Stephen Carr & the other R Keane sitting in the stands. The lads weren’t going to get overly worked up. Five minutes to go in a crucial World Cup qualifying game. Yes, WORLD CUP. Two goal lead thrown away & it looked like two points with it. The kitchen sink being hurled at the opposition. The crowd being worked up into a frenzy. And there’s the two lads, having a joke and laughing. People who know me & my opinions on that fucker from Cork can imagine the tirade of abuse he got from me !!!!! And having witnessed that, I know that I’m right in everything I ever said about him. My blood is boiling just writing this !!!

Even 7 minutes of injury time couldn’t produce the goal we all (well, nearly all) craved. Utter dejection. We had enough chances to win ten games but couldn’t find a way past the cheating Israeli no.1 although in fairness to him he also made a few outstanding saves. And so to the Faroes on Wenesday night. We have to win – it’s as simple as that. Contrary to popular opinion the Israeli game wasn’t a must-win as no-one else has managed to beat them either. This group has all the makings of the tightest one in World Cup history. Only a handful of games to go and there are still four undefeated teams in it. That’s why we just have to beat the fishermen on Wednesday night. Nothing else will do or we can forget about Germany next year.