A point well made by the Dunny monster

IF WE didn’t know better – and if Richard Dunne wasn’t as big as he is – we might dare to suggest that the Manchester City man’s pre-match injection on Saturday night must have been of the performance-enhancing kind.

As Shay Given quipped afterwards, he should consider having one every week.

Dunne wasn’t just the man of the match in Sofia, he was a man for many seasons, giving arguably the greatest individual defensive performance in a green shirt that we have seen since Paul McGrath proved an equally impenetrable one-man barrier against Italy at USA ‘94. Coincidentally, McGrath famously played that game with a gammy arm but it no more hampered his performance then than a suspect knee diminished Dunne’s against the Bulgarians.

That the minister of the defence should also provide the key cutting edge in attack, only served to highlight how important the Tallaght man was to the Irish cause on a sweltering, energy-sapping night when, for the visitors, the good eclipsed the bad without wholly erasing the ugly.

In a new version of an old story, the low point came with Ireland surrendering the lead and the initiative after beginning the match where they had left off in Bari – showing attack is the best form of defence. With Caleb Folan an impressively subtle target man and Damien Duff and Stephen Hunt threatening on the flanks, Ivankov was already much the busier ‘keeper before, with some helpful interference from John O’Shea, Dunne powered Ireland into the lead in the 24th minute with a thumping header.

But just five minutes later, Bulgaria were gifted a lifeline. Kevin Kilbane’s failure to deal with a routine ball forward was precisely the kind of lapse against which Giovanni Trapattoni has been warning his players against since he took charge. Ghosting in behind the veteran international, Telkyisi needed no second invitation to coolly slot past Shay Given.

If that was the ugly, the bad wasn’t far behind. As deflated by the setback as the Bulgarians were lifted by it, Ireland retreated so deeply that the midfield four were virtually playing on top of their own rearguard, allowing acres of space for Stiliyan Petrov to begin shaping Bulgarian moves and, at the same time, depriving Caleb Folan of support as the lone outlet upfield. With Glenn Whelan and Keith Andrews struggling to stem the tide, the result was Ireland could barely get out of their own half for the remainder of the first 45.

If the traffic was still largely one-way in the second, at least the visitors now repeatedly directed it up harmless cul de sacs. This was the good, at times very good, aspect of the Irish performance. Discipline, organisation, nerve and lung-bursting hard work ensured that, once Berbatov’s normally exquisite first touch abandoned him in front of goal, Bulgaria were restricted to long-range attempts to conjure the goal they needed.

In truth, the evening grew into a performance of immense character from Ireland, reminiscent of those glory days when much more experienced and battle-hardened sides than this one would go to places like Seville and Copenhagen and return with precious points.

Whether Sofia will prove a similar landmark, only time will tell. An inability to retain possession in midfield remains perhaps the biggest problem, ensuring that Ireland spend too much time trying to win it back rather than causing problems in the final third. By contrast, out on the flanks, Stephen Hunt and Damien Duff were admirable in carrying out both tasks and, when Aiden McGeady came on, his fresh legs and elusive pace almost provided an unlikely winner as he cut inside and sent a low shot whizzing just past the post.

Other sources of encouragement for Trapattoni were the redoubtable performances at either end of the pitch of newcomers Caleb Folan and Sean St Ledger. While the big striker will have to be content to remain useful cover for a fit Kevin Doyle, the Preston defender might already have done enough to cement his position alongside Richard Dunne at centre-half – thus allowing the now consistently impressive John O’Shea to solve the perennial right-back problem. But, although Kevin Kilbane recovered admirably from his costly error, the evergreen’s longevity on the other side of the back four must now be open to serious question.

The sense overall is of an Irish side continuing to take small but significant steps forward. In particular, where once there was a psychological brittleness which would have almost certainly ensured Bulgaria would have been allowed complete their comeback, now there is a collective spirit of self-belief clearly reflecting the team’s faith in the manager’s guidance.

So Ireland might already be within touching distance of a play-off place but, in order to take a giant leap forward – meaning not only qualification but also a rousing performance on the greatest stage of all – you can’t help thinking that the return of the missing Steves, Ireland and Reid, would make all the difference.

BULGARIA: Ivankov, Kishishev, Soyanov, Tomasic, Milanov, Telkiyski (Dimitrov 82), Angelov, Stiliyan Petrov, Martin Petrov (Georgiev 59) Berbatov, Bojinov (Makriev 58)

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Given, O’Shea (Kelly 88), St Ledger, Dunne, Kilbane, Hunt (McGeady 70), Whelan, Andrews, Duff, Folan, Keane (Best 74).

Referee: Claus Bo Larsen (Denmark).