Roll on the real action

AFTER the staggering climax of Ireland versus Italy, the prolonged anti-climax of Ireland versus Montenegro.

But then, as Giovanni Trapattoni is wont to say, if it was a show you wanted, you should have been at the theatre and not in Croke Park last night.

Indeed, the sight of blazers pulling balls out of a hat in Zurich on Monday is bound to be a lot more dramatic than this almost classically dull and inconsequential scoreless draw, as Ireland’s play-off destiny is finally revealed at FIFA headquarters.