Ireland let it slip

LIKE a stray mongrel that hangs around the yard, eventually Ireland's sporting family has opened the door and let in the International Rules to their hearts.

Being a hybrid, there is always going to be imperfections. Yesterday, however, even Dublin's dirtiest day couldn't dampen the excitement generated by the final two quarters.

In the past, the punter paid to see the obligatory scrap. Things have moved on.

The series has progressed, measured by yesterday's game remarkable for the lack of barneys and spilt blood and yet, most of the 71,552 left the stadium smiling, talking about a great spectacle.

Of course, there was still Brad Scott's haymaker on Graham Geraghty to keep the jeering masses satisfied in the second quarter. Scott was rightly shown the line, but his dismissal hammered home one of the game's glaring flaws. The red card meant Scott took no further part in the game, but Australia were permitted to replace him. No real disadvantage accrued.

That aside, it seems the public are now prepared to judge this mish-mash of two national sports on its merits. This result, while not irrelevant, was almost secondary to the rousing final quarter.

Notwithstanding this, the first 40 minutes were disjointed and sloppy, both sides struggling with the wintry conditions, starkly illustrated by the fact Ireland only managed four points (overs) in that half.

However, the last 40 minutes more than made up for it. The Irish skipper, though, agreed the conditions were shocking afterwards.

"The ball was like a bar of soap and the conditions were absolutely shocking, but we can't hold that as an excuse," Seamus Moynihan said. "The wind, though, was a crucial factor, it was very strong and in the final quarter, it was very hard to get the ball upfield."

It should be compulsory at this stage to footnote any reference to Moynihan after a game with peerless display, and the captain was certainly among the few who kept the slim Irish hopes alive in the final quarter. Over the past couple of years, one of the constants of this sport has been Moynihan charging from defence with the ball in hands.

Another has been the interpretation of the rules, such as they are. "It's always going to be frustrating," Aussie skipper Shane Crawford said. "We just have to get through it. I think both sets of players managed it really well, we both get frustrated and confused. But, it is only a matter of getting on with the game."

Two decisions in the final quarter, as Ireland searched frantically for a goal to save the series, rankled in their dressing-room. Darragh Ó Sé being called for fisting the ball, and an Irish player penalised for over-carrying, remarkably the first time that was called in 160 minutes of football.

"I am not going to go down the road of criticising the referee. The referee never beats a team. We can only blame ourselves, there is no point blaming anyone else," the Irish captain said afterwards. However, some of his team-mates were more vociferous.

"There are a few lads in here who feel hard done by," Cormac McAnallen said. "I think the damage was done by the time we were penalised for over-carrying.

"There were a few decision in the fourth quarter that baffled us. Certainly, the one right from the throw-in, when Graham won the ball from the flick, but was penalised for pushing. That mystifed me. There were a couple of decisions, which were six of one, that I thought went in the Aussies' favour."

The Tyrone star got the vital Irish goal at the start of the third quarter. During the week, Ireland felt the sting of criticism over their failure to convert goal chances last Sunday. "It was great to get the goal. It was nice to get it at that stage, the ball just fell to me, I think Padraic had the original chance. It was disappointing that we couldn't build on it."

McAnallen's goal was cancelled at the beginning of the frenetic fourth quarter. However, he still believed Ireland had a chance to save the series. But two swift overs from the boot of Nathan Brown saw Ireland's challenge crumble.

"We were still ahead in the series, when they got their goal. And I thought we were playing pretty decently and using the ball well. I think it was the next two scores they got, in quick succession, which went over the bar. That really killed us. That left us behind, against the wind. We were fighting uphill, from then."

Despite the handicap of being from Western Australia, where people go through their entire lives unaware that such a thing as chill wind factor exists, Nathan Brown was Australia's star yesterday. Thirteen points and a constant thorn in the Irish defence, it was easy to see why he is so highly-rated in the AFL. Brown feels this game will make the Aussies better at their own game.

"Footie can become a better thing out of this. Everyone who was here and who played against the Irish can bring the skills back to their own clubs. It has become a game everyone wants to play.

"It's been tough, particularly for a few of the guys who have close friends in Bali. It has brought us closer together as I think an event like this will. The speech by our skipper was just to get across it was a very special and sad day for Australia and when people back home were watching it, the day was coming to an end, so we thought it would be fitting."

In Oz, public diffidence has been more entrenched than here. Things are changing there, too. This is a game that has a future, with or without the rows.

"I think the Australian players are more comfortable with the round ball and I think the Irish players have got better with our skills, like the mark and tackle. So, it is turning into a great spectacle and it is becoming more popular back home. We get great supporters, it just goes to show they really rate the game," said Crawford.

Clearly customers are enthralled by the driven passion on both sides , the only sport in the world where the away team have an advantage.

So roll on next year and an Irish victory.