Far from being out of World Cup contention by Christmas, as Martin O’Neill feared in the aftermath of the Euros, Ireland find themselves blazing a trail at the summit of Group D after four games.

Ger McCarthy isolates the major turning points from Saturday’s game...

Seamus Coleman won’t allow ominous weather bulletins, or storm clouds blowing towards Everton, distract him from his priority of World Cup qualification.

England 3 Scotland 0: On a day when both teams took on FIFA and won, the 113th match between England and Scotland ended, as it has done rather often in recent history, with three points for the men in white but frustration for those north of the border who left Wembley ruminating on missed chances and wasted opportunities.

The Irish team is preparing for an evening in Vienna which should be at once bone-rattlingly cold and hot as all hell. 

With the Women’s World Cup now just ten months away Ireland tomorrow commence what coach Tom Tierney calls “a critical period” in their preparations with a tough assignment against England at the UCD Bowl.

Ireland’s clash with Canada this evening may not be as momentous as last week’s historic win over the All Blacks, but one man will treasure the fixture.

For ‘The Third Man’ read ‘The Third Match’ (featuring, um, Harry Liam). So here we are back in Vienna where, this evening, your painfully punning correspondent will be making his third trip to the Ernst-Happel Stadion.

He has finally collected his Olympic medal but Rob Heffernan remains as committed to improvement as ever as he vows to ‘go to war’ one last time. He just wishes people wouldn’t take it so personally when he pushes to raise standards for all Irish athletes.

Hoolahan simply makes everybody else in the Irish team play better and, because they know they can give him the ball, his mere presence takes the pressure off his team mates, writes Liam Brady.