Waiting for luck of the draw

IT wasn’t pretty, of course it wasn’t. But it was effective. Just about.

Ireland go into tomorrow’s play-off draw as probable first seeds, meaning they would have to overcome either Turkey, Montenegro, Estonia or Bosnia to qualify for the European Championship finals.

That’s the reward for a victory which owed much to a huge helping of luck when Roman Berezovksy was sent off in the first half for handball, despite the fact that Simon Cox had used his own arm to bring the ball under control as he found himself face to face with the keeper just outside the Armenian box.