Staunton looking for March relief

IT was a surreal moment on a surreal night. Little wonder pressurised hacks lifted their furrowed brows from their laptops as beleaguered Irish boss Steve Staunton promised that things would get better, especially if the game’s in March.

“We’re always better in March,” seemed like another straw-grasping moment for the Republic manager in the wake of Wednesday’s San Marino horror show. But Staunton may be onto something here.

Granted, he didn’t get much right this week, but our statistics for the last decade show that the Republic definitely have a spring in their step against the Sides of March — it’s going on for nine years since the Republic last lost a fixture in the month, a 2-1 defeat to the Czech Republic.