Talented Dowler makes his mark as Ireland take bronze

FOR years, they will be talking about that June week in Dublin, when the sun was shining and everyone was smiling, when the city didn't smother as much and there was enough human faith to go around for one and all.

They will gather under their summer umbrellas and wonder did it really happen, a time when Dublin restored both your faith in humanity and Irish weather.

But after a week of sunshine and soul-shine, it was back to the traditions of summer in Belfield yesterday, the rain returning with a vengeance. Despite this, there was no sign of dampened spirits around UCD. As throngs circled pitch five, only a few with the foresight to bring umbrellas, people didn't mind getting drenched to the skin. The football was warming them.

Yesterday started brightly for Ireland 2 in their five-a-side discipline. Early arrivals to UCD saw them go three-up in their semi-final against Libya. And then disaster struck. The Libyans drew on a second wind, and scored a couple of goals to claw their way back into the match. Before Ireland 2 could re-group, they had gone from a chance at gold to the bronze medal match.

"That was a hard one to take," the Irish captain Shane Carter recalled; "When we were leading 3-1 against Libya, we thought we were going into the final."

Thoughts of a final though proved to be premature. The Irish team were devastated as they traipsed off pitch 17 in the morning. By the time, they had to play Luxembourg for the bronze medal, the grey cloud that threatened Dublin all morning had finally burst.

Not that anyone cared. An Ireland chant started before kick-off and continued through the entire game that Ireland seemed destined to control from the first minute when John Dowler broke free and almost opened the scoring. The soaked supporters didn't have to wait long until Ireland broke the deadlock, a lovely pass from Damien Ryan released Dowler who flicked the ball over the on-rushing Luxembourg keeper.

Dowler was the most exciting talent on show, causing Luxembourg all manner of problems on the wing. When he cut inside, he linked well with John Paul Shaw and Ryan, who scored two of Ireland's four goals in the first half. Dowler grabbed a second goal in the 10th minute, a fine individual effort. At the back, Ireland were far more solid than they were against Libya. John Ryan made an important save soon after Dowler's second goal. With Ireland 3-0 up, Luxembourg counter-attacked swiftly.

Bearing in mind what happened against Libya, a goal at that stage and Ireland could have started leaking. But, this was a more confident Irish side that earlier in the day, maybe it was the rain that inspired them. Carter, their mow-hawked skipper from Mullingar, was a steadying influence at the back and afterwards, paid tribute to the Irish coaches for lifting the players for the third place play-off.

"It was Micheal and Gary who made this happen. We were really down after losing to having Libya. But they raised our heads and made us focus on this game, and it shows how much we have improved. Earlier this week, we played Luxembourg and it was nil-nil."

As the second half kicked off, Ireland's bronze medal seemed in little doubt. They even hauled off Dowler, their best player, and Carter. Rita Doherty, the only female member of the team, played the entire second half and almost grabbed a goal. Alan Dempsey did and Ireland romped home 6-0 winners. After the unexpected bad twist the day took against Libya, this was a nice finish.

Not to be left out in the cold, the referee and match officials joined the party, hunkering down and singing along for the victorious team photograph. Around the pitch, a chant of ole, ole, ole rang out.

A delighted Shane Carter laughs and shakes his head when asked did he expect to be taking home a medal. "We never thought we were going to win a medal," he said. "Going into the Games, we thought we would have been lucky to win one game. It is unreal winning bronze."

And despite their heavy defeat, the Luxembourg players found the time to high-five many of those clapping them off. A small moment which will probably be forgotten as the week ends, but rain or shine, this June week will take time to fade in the memory.