Ireland take care of business

It was gut-wrenchingly tense at times but, thanks to a goal on his competitive debut by substitute Keith Fahey, Ireland came away from a hot and heavy night in Yerevan with a vital win in their opening Group B European Championship qualifier.

At times, the performance might have been some way off what was required but Giovanni Trapattoni won’t worry about that.

The Irish might have lived dangerously but the manager got his favourite result.

One-nil means three points on the road and that was always the order of the day ahead of the visit of Andorra to Dublin next Tuesday.

Ireland might have been up against enigmatic opposition but, at the outset, the fear of the known was at least as much a factor as the fear of the unknown.

The biggest worry for the visitors in the face of energy-sapping conditions was the remarkable fact that, of the starting 11, only Manchester United’s John O’Shea and Derby County’s Paul Green had managed a full complement of games at club level so far this season.

And, on top of a lack of game time for the likes of Shay Given, Aiden McGeady and Kevin Doyle, there was the additional concern that two of the key men in the spine of the team – Richard Dunne and Robbie Keane – went into the game with injury niggles.

For all that, Ireland started promisingly. Barely eight minutes in and the Irish could have made things a lot more comfortable for themselves but, straight through on goal from a Doyle flick-on, Keane flashed his shot the wrong side of the post.

As expected, the Armenians were physically engaged, threatening on the break and, as Given quickly found out, prepared to shoot from distance, so already the onus was on Ireland to make the most of any chances which were likely to present themselves.

The contrast in styles was stark. Although playing off the cuff wasn’t always productive, Armenia were admirably keen to move the ball forward on the ground with pace, always looking to exploit space on the flanks and in the middle where a seemingly nervous Paul Green was clearly struggling on his competitive debut.

Ireland opted for the direct Route One approach and when, as often as not, that didn’t work, relied on free-kicks and corners to put pressure on the Armenian goal.

In fact, almost a full half-hour had elapsed before a little inspiration came from another source, as Aiden McGeady finally came alive with a trademark run which ended with his shot brushing the side-netting.

The closing stages of a lively first half saw chances at either end, Keane first getting the ball in the net but seeing his effort flagged offside and then tumbling in the box over a trailing leg only for Hungarian referee Zsolt Szabo to almost dismissively wave play on.

At the other end, Armenian dangerman Yura Movsisyan twice brought the home crowd to its feet, first with a volley over the top from a corner and then, having brushed aside Green, with a long-range scorcher which just cleared Given’s bar.

So it was honours even on the scoreboard at the break, though Giovanni Trapattoni would clearly have been the manager with more to say in the half-time talk, especially about the need for the experienced men in his side to show more composure.

But at the start of the second half it was Armenia who promptly turned the temperature back up with a mini-siege of the Irish goal which was only relieved when Richard Dunne got a chest to the ball and booted it out of the box.

Moments later, Shay Given was at full-stretch to deny Henriikh Mkhitaryan and then came the moment when Keane could have firmly turned the tide but, although once again easily breaching the Georgian defence on the end of a long ball, this time he showed a rusty striker’s touch as his effort came back off the foot of the upright.

It meant Ireland continued to live on their wits in the face of intense Armenian pressure, at one point Given having to react smartly to spare Dunne the ignominy of heading into his own net.

Doyle, Ireland’s man-of-the-match, did his best to relieve the pressure, one magnificent solo run almost the length of the pitch ending with a shot on target.

But, in the 76th minute, it was the man who had been on for the shortest time who got Ireland ‘s precious breakthrough. Liam Lawrence had already sent in a number of deep crosses from the right and this time, after both Keane and Doyle had foraged in the box, substitute Fahey, making his first competitive appearance as a replacement for McGeady, was perfectly placed to score with a low drive to the corner of the net.

There were still some nerve-jangling moments to come for the visitors but, well marshalled by John O’Shea and Dunne, the Irish held out for a hard-earned, somewhat fortunate but definitely most welcome three points.

Subs for Armenia: Mahoyan for Artur Edigaryan 68, Hambardzumyan for Artak Edigaryan 71, Manucharyan for Malakyan 79.

Subs for the Republic of Ireland: Fahey for McGeady 67, Keogh for Keane 83.