Old faults return to haunt Ireland
The highlights reel will certainly show that Ireland had the two best chances of the game — headers from only yards out directed wide of goal by first Robbie Keane and, right at the death, Richard Dunne — but if the home side had managed to grab three points here it would have been a major steal, if not quite the crime of the century.
The truth is that Giovanni Trapattoni’s team were made to look second rate for much of this game by a Slovakian side who celebrated their draw but would not have been at all flattered by a win.
Rubbing salt into the wounds, a yellow card for Sean St Ledger, Ireland’s best player on the night, means he will now miss Tuesday’s match in Moscow, a game which suddenly looks an even tougher proposition than it already was, after this toothless performance by the boys in green.
Before kick-off, Slovakia were boosted by captain and chief playmaker Marek Hamsik of Napoli passing a fitness test, though for the second game in succession against Ireland, striker Robert Hittek was missing from the starting line-up and confined to the bench until Vladimir Weiss used him to run the clock down in the dying minutes. Unfortunately, there wasn’t even that consolation for Shane Long, a late withdrawal from the Irish panel with a calf problem.
That this was only ever going to be a must-win game for Ireland was reinforced by the news that Russia had already beaten Macedonia 1-0 — yet another narrow scoreline in this tightest of qualifying groups. And the presence of a noisy and colourful Slovak travelling support behind the Havelock Square goal told you that the visitors had come to Dublin with their own hopes of qualification still running high.
And they had even more reason to feel confident after a first half in which a promising Irish start soon gave way to the familiar spectacle of the opposition dominating possession at the Aviva, threading neat passes around the green shirts and, frankly, making the home side look positively statuesque at times
Earlier there had been the briefly encouraging sight of both full-backs, John O’Shea and Stephen Ward, getting forward in support of the attack. Ireland were mixing up their approach as well, alternating between not always accurate long balls from Dunne and a more measured build-up from front to back. But if, initially, they were showing some poise there was precious little penetration, despite the hard running of Kevin Doyle and Keane and the occasional suggestion that Damien Duff’s trickery might unlock the door.
But an old fault — that of cheaply surrendering possession — began to recur, a failing which played straight to the feet of the silky Slovakian counter-attack and meant that Dunne and St Ledger had to act quickly to snuff out the danger on a couple of occasions while Ward was also required to provide additional valuable cover for his centre-halves.
But that still didn’t prevent Slovakia having the first clear sight of goal in the 18th minute when Vladimir Weiss cut inside but could only direct his shot straight at Shay Given from a very promising position. Really, Ireland began to lose any semblance of a grip on the game after that and, nine minutes later, Given had to be even more alert to turn a Filio Holosko header around the post.
Far from generating a high-tempo or even sustained bouts of momentum of the kind which might have roused the home support and delivered an early reward, Ireland were now relying on Duff to win frees as a way of relieving pressure.
But then, almost out of nothing, there was a rare moment of the incision Trapattoni had called for before the game when, after a quickly taken free in midfield, Keith Andrews and Duff combined well in the box only for Jan Mucha to produce a fine save to deny the winger’s shot.
The second half mirrored the first, Ireland largely surviving off scraps while Slovakia moved the ball around seemingly at will. It was true that Given wasn’t exactly being overworked but right on the hour mark it was only a full-blooded last-ditch block by St Ledger which denied Hamsik what looked a certain goal.
The longer the game went on, the more rattled the Irish became, even Given committing an elementary error to concede an indirect free in the box before Ward almost put through his own goal as he dealt with a dangerous cross. The sight of Andrews running the ball over the touchline just about summed up the state of Ireland ‘s collective mind at the point.
But with Simon Cox on for the exhausted Doyle, and Slovakia increasingly content with their night’s work, the Irish lifted themselves in the final 15 minutes, with Keane handing back that first get-out-of-jail-card when his mistimed header from Duff’s perfect cross drifted over the bar.
Cox was proving a lively addition but the effect of his fresh legs made it even more of a mystery why Trapattoni had waited until seven minutes from the end before sending on Stephen Hunt for Aiden McGeady who had long since run out of ideas.
Almost inevitably, there was a late flurry of action in the Slovakian box but when Dunne vied with Keane for miss of the match by heading wide from Hunt’s cross, desperate Irish disappointment only temporarily masked the reality that justice had been served on the night.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Given, O’Shea, Dunne, St Ledger, Ward, Duff, Andrews, Whelan, McGeady (Hunt 83), Keane, Doyle (Cox 63)
SLOVAKIA: Mucha, Pekarik, Durica, Skrtel, Cech, Karhan, Kucka (Guede 76), Hamsik, Stoch, Weiss (Jendrisek 85), Holosko (Vittek 87)
Referee: Pedro Proenca (Portugal) .
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
