Henry’s hammer blow

Republic of Ireland 0 France 1

With Switzerland winning against Cyprus, and Israel beating the Faroes, the Group 4 table provides unhappy reading for Irish fans this morning. The closer we get to Germany the further away it seems.

After a tense, tight battle Ireland might count themselves unlucky to have gone down to the Gunner's stroke of genius, but having failed to trouble Coupet overmuch at the other end, they can hardly complain that it came wholly against the run of play.

It will also be of little consolation to Roy Keane that he was rightly proclaimed man of the match. In a group where, until last night, the draw had reigned supreme, defeat had to be avoided at all costs. Ireland's wholehearted, battling performance may have deserved a share of the points but goals win games, alter campaigns and secure qualification, and last night Thierry Henry was able to deliver where Clinton Morrison and Robbie Keane could not.

The evening began amid a welter of optimism and excitement in the city and the stadium. Despite his repeated canvassing of 4-3-3, Brian Kerr put the unsuccessful experiment of the Italy friendly back on the shelf and reverted to the tried and tested 4-4-2 which had delivered Ireland's best performance of the qualifiers in the scoreless draw in Paris last October.

But, for the return clash against Les Bleus, the manager chose not to err on the side of caution; instead Andy Reid a substitute in the Stade de France was in from the start, to bring his inventiveness and eye for the killer pass to the Irish attack. The only other personnel change saw the in-form Richard Dunne come in for Andy O'Brien, laid up with a bug earlier in the week, to partner Kenny Cunningham in the centre of defence for the first time in the campaign.

For France, Cisse's ankle injury may have been a blessing in disguise for boss Raymond Domenech. The Liverpool striker's two and half goals against the Faroes in Lens had made the most persuasive case possible for a start, but Domenech had always planned to play Thierry Henry as the lone frontman in Dublin, with Sylvain Wiltord on the right of midfield. The other, not unexpected change from the 3-0 win over the Faroes, saw the erratic Florent Malouda replaced by Vikash Dhorasoo.

The chosen 22 walked out into the most expectant atmosphere Lansdowne Road has witnessed in years, the feverish mood of the moment intensified by rival national anthems sung with exceptional fervour. Then a thunderous rendition of 'Come on you boys in green' rolled around the old ground as Robbie Keane and Damien Duff embraced before kick-off.

And then it was down to the serious stuff. With the crowd cheering every tackle and booing every refereeing decision against Ireland, the mood was stirringly partisan. Brian Kerr's team seemed fired up, tearing into tackles and trying to close down the French as in the days of yore.

But with only eight minutes gone, the green shirts almost paid a heavy price for Dunne's challenge on Henry. Zinedine Zidane hit the free and it required a spectacular save from Shay Given to claw it away one-handed.

But other than a couple of efforts from distance which whistled past the Irish post, that would prove to be as close as France would come to scoring in a first half in which they supplied the panache and Ireland replied with physical power.

Andy Reid scraped the French post from a free kick before Morrison came close after getting on the end of Robbie Keane's header from Given's kick-out. It was a flashback to the old route one like Niall Quinn's successful effort against Holland in the 1990 World Cup as was the pressure game which Ireland exerted all over the pitch, frequently forcing the French, for all their smooth possession play, to hit the final ball lamely over the top and into the grateful arms of Given.

But this Irish team can play football too, even if they only showed it twice in the first 45. First Duff and O'Shea combined sweetly on the left, and when Morrison dummied the Chelsea winger's cross, only the intervention of Boumsong's foot prevented Robbie Keane getting a clean strike on target.

On 35 minutes, the flair came down the opposite flank. Stephen Carr and Andy Reid exchanged neat passes on the right, and when the cross was cleared, the Tottenham man volleyed a brilliant first-time pass to Duff, whose path to goal was stopped only by Willy Sagnol's foul. A minute later the Bayern Munich's full-back's name went into the book for a second bite at Duff, who was tightly shackled for most of the game by the French rearguard.

Andy Reid and Richard Dunne the latter entirely unfazed by having to tangle with Zidane were having fine matches for Ireland but not for the first time, Roy Keane was the heartbeat of the team. Zidane may have had the exquisite first touch, but for an hour Keane was the more influential player.

From the moment early in the game when he was alert enough to chase across to the exposed left-back position to rob Sylvain Wiltord, the Corkman was here, there and everywhere, getting his foot in, making telling interceptions and always calmly helping the Irish to retain possession.

But there was very little else calm about a game in which passion reigned supreme, and the noise level rarely dropped below the cacophonous.

At least that was until the 68th minute and then all the noise was coming from the travelling French fans at the Havelock Square end, as Thierry Henry conjured up a moment of magic to curl a shot from outside the box wide of Given and into the back of the Irish net.

Everywhere you looked, Irish heads were in Irish hands.

Now, for Ireland, the battle had turned into one for survival. Even though the team had created few goal chances themselves, the crowd's impassioned response suggested they believed that Kerr's men deserved a better reward for their endeavours. For their part, looking to protect their lead, France promptly withdrew Zidane and soon after Henry checked out, to be replaced by Cisse.

With 12 minutes to go, Brian Kerr shuffled his own deck, bringing on Gary Doherty for Clinton Morrison and Ian Harte for Kevin Kilbane. Ireland continued to play with their heart as well as their head but on a night when, creatively, they fell short of what was required especially in front of goal there was to be no way back as France took the points, and with them, a giant step towards World Cup qualification.

Adding to Irish misery was the rash of yellow cards which will rule Morrison, Roy Keane, and Reid out of Ireland's game against the Cypriots. Now, the odds are really stacked against them.