After the euphoria of the defeat of Germany, Irish football was brought crashing back down to the earth in Warsaw, as Poland booked their place at the Euro 2016 finals leaving Martin O’Neill’s men to try to seek entry to France through the back door of the play-offs, the draw for which will take place on Sunday.

Martin O’Neill praised the courage of his charges as they made history at Aviva Stadium last night.

Ireland’s 1-1 draw with Poland last Sunday provided definitive proof that, just as we’d always suspected, the celebrated glass is indeed both half-full and half-empty at one and the same time.

Burnley boss Sean Dyche celebrated Sam Vokes' first goal in more than nine months but reported news of another serious injury to one of his players.

And… Breathe. The neutrals may welcome another shot at an All-Ireland hurling final after that stunning draw but can the locals in Kilkenny and Tipperary bear it? Will their hearts be able for that sort of tension again?

Robbie Keane insists he is happy to carry the burden of supplying the goals to fire the Republic of Ireland into the finals of Euro 2016.

Republic of Ireland striker Kevin Doyle has admitted that Robbie Keane’s “incomparable” goalscoring exploits may never be beaten.

David Forde says Ireland’s 2-1 defeat to Serbia brought the squad “back down to reality” — but that there are still plenty of positives to be taken from the game.

Our columnist reflects on a memorable start to Ireland’s hectic end-of-season finale.

Seamus Coleman is learning the ropes at a rate of knots, off the pitch as well as on it.

Tonight’s game against Sweden is a huge one for us in our quest to qualify for the World Cup in Brazil next summer.

ASKED if Robbie Keane would come back into the team for the World Cup qualifiers in March, Giovanni Trapattoni yesterday gave one of his patented long rambling answers which left none of his audience any the wiser.

Looking back on the match against Greece, I genuinely think there were a lot of positives to take from it.

The player they call Longy could be at risk of becoming known as Skippy, after Giovanni Trapattoni yesterday described Shane Long “springing for the ball like a kangaroo”.

Stephen Kelly was back in the starting line-up at Craven Cottage with his country this week and now the 29-year-old is hoping to do the same with his club.

If the rumblings and murmurs from the Irish camp in Gdynia are to be taken at face value, Kevin Doyle now looks to be the only player from the original first XI to miss out against Spain tomorrow.

Shane Long has set his sights on forcing his way in the Republic of Ireland’s starting line-up for the Euro 2012 play-off with Estonia via his performances for West Brom.

ROBBIE KEANE has rated his chances of featuring in next month’s European Championship play-offs as “touch and go”.

WITH a line already drawn through Kevin Doyle’s name, Giovanni Trapattoni must have winced even more than Robbie Keane when the Ireland captain went down under Damien Delaney’s tackle in Malahide yesterday.

THE focus of attention will be divided between James McCarthy and Richard Dunne this morning as the Irish squad embark on their first training session in Malahide ahead of Saturday’s European Championship qualifier against Macedonia.