Head and shoulders above the rest

AS IF the result in Dublin wasn’t enough of a bubble-burster, Italy had to go and canter to the most straightforward of wins on what was supposed to be a potentially tricky, if short, hop across the Adriatic Sea.

Suddenly, next Wednesday’s appointment in Bari has taken on a more sinister hue and Kevin Doyle will probably be thinking that he should be more careful as to what he wishes for in future.

When the Reading striker was asked last week about the possibility of Italy slipping up in Montenegro and Ireland travelling to Europe’s boot as group leaders he replied that such a scenario was the last thing he wanted.