Despite win, fans not yet at home in Castle Croker

FROM Fortress Lansdowne to Castle Croker, Ireland’s first home and away soccer match was as much a voyage of discovery for the fans as the footballers.

There was a mental map of how things should look — a spectacular stadium, twice the usual number of supporters, no injury worries — all the features of an afternoon’s easy conquest.

But there were also dire warnings etched deep in the mind. Here be dragons, the potentially fiery Welsh who would like nothing better than to dispatch the Irish to the dungeon of defeat. And here be demons, the memories of San Marino that haunted and taunted every green-shirted crusader.