Show is back on the road

THIS campaign may have opened with a 1-0 win in Armenia but Eastern Europe has rarely been a source of such profit for Irish teams ever since the first competitive trip behind what was then the Iron Curtain ended in the red 51 years ago.

That particular jaunt ended with a 4-0 defeat against Czechoslovakia in Bratislava, a city the ‘Boys in Green’ wouldn’t revisit until 2007 in what remains Stephen Ireland’s last appearance for his country.

The ‘Grannygate’ farce which followed in its slipstream has since overshadowed that 2-2 draw, but that was a stalemate that effectively closed the door on any faint lingering hopes Steve Staunton had of reaching Euro 2008.

All in all then, probably not the part of the world that students of the game in this country would have chosen for the side’s next appointment after the bracing loss to the irresistible Russians last Friday evening.

This Irish side’s interest in this latest campaign was never going to be determined by last night’s tie in Zilina one way or another but events in Ballsbridge had nonetheless raised the stakes considerably.

Momentum alone demanded better.

Richard Dunne, Aiden McGeady and Glenn Whelan had all made negative noises about the tactics and instructions imposed on the side in the wake of that bracing defeat. In that respect alone, the vibes were more positive last night.

Ireland played far more football in the first 45 minutes than they managed in 90 against Dick Advocaat’s side four days previous and the disparity in ability between their two opponents can only partially explain that.

What should have been the unremarkable sight of Shay Given rolling the ball out to Kevin Kilbane in the opening minutes took on real significance in that it was early notice that the crowd’s neck muscles would not be worked so crudely once again.

Irish sides will never be as technically gifted as their continental counterparts – at least not in most of our lifetimes anyway – so it was gratifying to see the visitors mix the long with the short, the vertical pass with the horizontal.

Both the opening goal and the penalty won by Aiden McGeady came courtesy of lengthy deliveries but each were intelligent balls in their own right rather than routine punts aimed at the head of a striker with his back to goal.

A subtle difference but an important one.

Credit to Keith Fahey, the provider of that first delivery, for his performance in what was his first competitive start. The Birmingham City player didn’t reinvent the wheel last night but he helped keep the show on the road with a simple yet effective display.

A word, too, for Shane Long who faced the unenviable task of replacing the injured Kevin Doyle and did so to good effect.

Disappointingly, Ireland followed that step forward with a backwards one after the break when they were dominated by an average Slovakian side minus key striker Robert Vittek, Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel and veteran midfielder Zdeno Strba.

The chief emotion is of an opportunity lost. Ireland earned a point, sure, but they coughed up two more.

They conceded a goal from a set-piece for the second game in succession and Robbie Keane’s poorly executed penalty on the stroke of half-time which, on reflection, was the moment when they lost the upper hand.

The Irish captain could have had a hat-trick on another night but individual and collective shortcomings – all of them familiar – have seen a week that began with hopes of four points ending with the team claiming just the one.

Hope survives and that will be enough for now for some after the despair that accompanied the defeat in the Aviva Stadium and Trapattoni now has five months to tweak things before Ireland resume their bid against Macedonia next March.

Trips to Skopje and Moscow await further down the line before the book is closed on Group B and the feeling is that Ireland could require another four points from their next two trips to the old Soviet Bloc if automatic qualification is to remain any way realistic.

They have much to do.