Carling Cup left looking a little flat

TWELVE years ago, almost eight decades after the FAI had been founded, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland faced one another in a senior international friendly for the very first time.

Organised as a fundraiser for the victims of the Omagh bombing, it was hailed at the time as heralding something of a thaw in the long-running Cold War that had always lingered between the rival associations in Belfast and Dublin.

The day itself was a disappointment. Only 12,100 people paid for their vantage points in Lansdowne Road on a May afternoon and a bizarre goal from the North’s Danny Griffin was the only difference between the pair at the end.

Last night’s get-together provided more goals but relations between north and south are, if anything, worse now than in 1999 as a result of the growing band of players born north of the border but declaring for the neighbours down south.

It is a trend that, along with stringent security arrangements put in place for travelling fans by the IFA, prompted most Northern Ireland supporters to stay away but some among the few hundred that did turn up made their presence felt by turning their back on Amhran na bhFiann.

A similar minority of home fans had already set that tone by booing God Save the Queen, just a week after the monarch herself had enjoyed an overwhelmingly warm welcome in this jurisdiction, while one spectator thought it clever to wave a Vatican flag about.

After all that — and not to mention the James McCarthy saga — referee Craig Thomson’s opening whistle was met with some relief by the majority but what transpired amounted to little more than a training run for the Republic rather than a meaningful contest.

As one wag put it, all it proved was that our ‘B’ team was better than theirs on what was another difficult night for a Carling Nations Cup which is in danger of becoming the tournament that died by a thousand cuts with three games still to play.

The criticisms have been many and loud since the Republic and Scotland cakewalked to 3-0 wins over Wales and Northern Ireland respectively last February and in front of crowds depressingly similar in size to last night’s.

Poor attendances, a succession of withdrawals by high-profile players and questionable scheduling have all been fingered as culprits though it will be interesting to see what crowd materialises for the Republic’s tie with Scotland this Sunday.

Being a Sunday game, and a virtual final, there should be less swathes of empty green seats. The flip side to that will undoubtedly come with Friday’s encounter between Wales and Northern Ireland at what will probably be a virtually empty Lansdowne Road.

The pity is that a tighter fixture list and use of venues in Cardiff, Glasgow and Belfast as well as Dublin may have injected some much-needed energy into a competition that has failed to capture the imagination north, south, east or west.