The killer goal

IT may not count for much in the long-run but there are good reasons why Kevin Kilbane’s goal against the Czech Republic was Liam Mackey’s sporting highlight of the year.

SOMETIMES great moments in sport have nothing to do with lifting cups or breaking records. Sometimes it’s enough to see a wounded combatant getting up off his knees and living to fight another day. Sometimes mere survival is as heroic as it gets.

In what was a generally miserable year for Irish football on the international stage, Kevin Kilbane’s goal against the Czech Republic at Lansdowne Road stands out as a moment to cherish. Unlike Michel’s own goal in the 1989 win over Spain or Jason McAteer’s celebrated decider in the 2001 qualifer against Holland, Kilbane’s thumping strike on October 11, 2006 may ultimately go down in Lansdowne history as a mere statistic rather than as a milestone in qualification for the finals of a major tournament.

Time will tell but, as we enter the decisive year of Steve Staunton’s first campaign as Irish manager, only the most optimistic would think that Ireland can still make up the miles of lost ground in Group D of the 2008 European Championship qualifiers.

But then, back on that night in October, probably even fewer expected such fireworks from an embattled Irish team so soon after the debacle that was their 5-2 walloping in Cyprus. By common consent, that had been just about the worst ever performance by an Irish team, a shocking capitulation which not only exposed the players to the full force of public and media criticism but also left the reign of rookie boss Staunton hanging by a thread. Another hiding four days later at the hands of the high-flying Czechs, and it was widely assumed that the ‘Job Vacant’ sign would once more be going up at 80 Merrion Square.

Cruelly derided at every turn, Staunton deserves enormous credit for keeping his head in the hostile atmosphere which followed the squad home from Nicosia. But for all that he tried to rally the troops, an ever-lengthening injury list left most outside the camp feeling that nothing but further pain was in store on the following Wednesday in Dublin.

Staunton also talked up the loyalty and resilience of the Irish fans but, such had been the extent of the backlash after the humiliation in Cyrpus, that some of us even worried about the reception the patched-up boys in green would receive when they took the pitch at Lansdowne Road. Oh we of little faith.

So much has been written in praise of the Green Army down the years, that it’s easy to grow cynical about the supposed ‘best fans in the world’ tag. But on that October night in the old ground, with the vultures circling overhead, the supporters exceeded expectations almost as much as the players.

From the moment the Irish team emerged from the tunnel, the noise from the stands was deafening the ground electrified by an almost desperate desire for redemption.

All that was needed now was for the players to respond in kind. And that they did, rocking the Czechs back with a full-blooded display which was everything — and more — that had been absent four days before in Cyprus.

The crowning moment came just after the hour mark, when Damien Duff chose the outside line and pulled an inviting ball back across the face of the goal which the incoming Kevin Kilbane blasted to the back of the net. The whole place erupted. Down on the pitch, around the dug-out and up in the stands, players, management and fans celebrated as if qualification itself had been secured. And, let it be stated for the record that, even in the press box, source of so much hostility towards Staunton, there were whoops and clenched fists as people got in touch with their inner fan.

The moment also gave us the quote of the year. Recovering from brain surgery at his home in England, where he was watching the game on the telly, Bobby Robson reacted with the same burst of joy. Later he would explain: “I jumped out of my chair — and I was bloody paralysed!”.

The buzz lasted a mere two minutes, before Jan Koller, for the only time in the game, got the better of superb tyro Paul McShane to squeeze a shot past Wayne Henderson and put the Czech Republic level.

Which is how it ended and after a pulsating 90 minutes, the Irish entitled to count themselves unlucky not to have taken all three points.

In the great scheme of things, a meagre one point from the three games should not be a cause for relief and celebration. But whatever happens from here on in, sheer bliss it was for just one moment to know that Irish football, even in the shadow of its darkest hour, could still give all of us a reason to believe.