O’Shea: Success breeds success
Keith Fahey’s goal in Yerevan in 2010 gave Giovanni Trapattoni’s team an away victory on the opening night of the campaign, which ultimately led to Euro 2012 in Poland.
“A huge three points for us,” is how the Sunderland man summed up the late, late win in Tbilisi. “People might have been thinking 1-1 might not have been too bad but, believe me, we wanted to win. Going back to previous games, and Armenia in particular, it can be hard to come away in the first game against tough enough opposition. Ultimately we knew we could win, and we did.
“We left it a little bit late but what a special goal to win our first game. To be fair to us, we were the team wanting to win the game as well. They made a couple of changes and had a little bit of energy for five or 10 minutes in the second half. The young wide player came on and was a little bit tricky. But, a bit like a fizzy drink, he faded away a little bit, and Seamus got on top and we were able to raid down the right-hand side, putting balls in. Some of our crosses were a bit too deep but finally, thankfully, for the goal, a bit of quality showed.
“Momentum is a key word. Martin and the staff have had to wait eight or nine months for their first competitive game and to get a win is huge. Now we can see the way the other results go and build from there.
“Coming away from home in the first game, three points, it’s massive.”
