The gain with the pain

NO doubt about it, Saturday was a good day at the office.

Three points for Ireland and two points dropped by both Russia and Armenia saw European Championship Group B officially declared a three-horse race.

But Saturday was also a good day at the office, Irish-style, meaning that by close of business you didn’t quite know whether to go out celebrating or just lie down in a darkened room. Not for the first time, that winning feeling came with undertones of anxiety, a gnawing sense that the bonus in the pay-packet might yet presage a P45.