Long offers glimpse into life after Keane
Last night it was the heading for one of a handful of interesting sub-plots on a night when Ireland and Norway went through the motions.
Shay Given has copped a fair share of flack for hogging game time between the posts down through the years but Keane has been just as difficult to budge as far as the country’s next wave of forwards are concerned.
A tally of 106 caps speaks for itself. Indeed, last night’s fixture was Giovanni Trapattoni’s 28th in charge of Ireland and only the third occasion in all that time when the Tottenham striker has not been there to lead the team out.
Though always a firm favourite with the fans, Keane has been guilty of occasional profligacy – witnessed again last month in Slovakia – and at times an ill-judged tendency to migrate far and wide in search of possession.
Such accusations have, nonetheless, always paled in comparison with a goal tally that has reached 45 and climbing and the mind boggles when one considers how Ireland might have fared this last dozen years without him.
The more pertinent question, of course, is what Ireland will do when Keane retires. Lest we forget, he turned 30 last July.
Not exactly the cue to shuffle towards the exit door in slippers but the end is nonetheless much closer than the beginning.
Last night provided a glimpse of what the future may hold when the serenade of ‘There’s only one Keano’ finally passes its sell-by-date.
Kevin Doyle will, barring major misfortune, provide much-need continuity and a goalscoring threat post-Keane – indeed, there is already an argument to be made that he is already the focal point and beating heart of Ireland’s offensive manoeuvres.
The identity of his chief lieutenant once Keane departs would have been anybody’s guess coming into the latest European Championship qualifiers but the autumn has been kind to Shane Long who has elbowed his way to the front of the queue.
A dramatic impact in the defeat to Russia last month was followed up by another stand-out performance when filling in for the injured Doyle against Slovakia and his ascent gained further altitude last night.
Stephen Hunt gave an interesting summation of Long the player earlier this week when describing him as a “typical Tipperary hurler”, a compliment which those from the Premier County will say incorporates a player with steel as well as style. He showed both in Zilina in the face of some agricultural defending and displayed a modicum of craft to boot last night with an intelligent run that forced Brede Hangeland into conceding an early penalty – which the Reading man converted.
It was a worthy reward for his subsequent efforts.
Long was at the tip of Ireland’s spear all evening and was inches away from a second goal when Liam Lawrence’s cross eluded him by inches eight minutes after he had put the home side ahead.
The start of the second-half almost mirrored its predecessor with Jon Knudsen’s fingertips preventing what would have been a stunning goal.
All of which was in keeping with the rebirth he has experienced at Reading this season, one which has coughed up three goals in the last five Championship matches as well as the reward of a freshly-inked contract at the Madejski Stadium.
It is a welcome and perhaps even overdue upturn in fortunes for a man who departed Cork City for the English club at the same time as Doyle back in the summer of 2005.
Time is on his side. Though he crossed the Irish Sea at the same time as Doyle he is, at 23, four years the Wexford man’s junior and the signs are that his apprenticeship is finally coming to an end.
An international partnership with Doyle would seem to bring with it the promise of rich dividends if only because of the pair’s familiarity with another at club level both in England and Ireland and both have developed a knack for scoring for their country.
The likes of Caleb Folan or Jonathan Walters may provide more height but Long’s stature (5’ 8”) is identical to Keane’s and thus largely immaterial alongside Doyle’s aerial prowess. Whatever way you look at it, the lad is measuring up.
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