Ruutli refuses to blame ref

ABOUT 20 minutes into the second half of last night’s evisceration of Estonia, the home fans started up a chant.

The key to their defeat wasn’t Aiden McGeady’s cross, Keith Andrews’s header, Robbie Keane’s invention or even Ireland’s overall aggression.

It was, according to the very vocal Tallinn support, a hapless refereeing performance from Hungarian Viktor Kassei.

It barely needs to be repeated, of course, that this was a role reversal for Ireland from their last play-off away game. Estonia, however, could be forgiven for feeling exactly like the Irish did that night: the little guys losing every key decision to the higher-profile team.

To be fair to Estonian coach Tarmo Ruutli, however, he refused to attribute all blame for his team’s abysmal defeat to the red cards for centre-halves Andrei Stepanov and Raio Piiroja. As important as they were, he couldn’t look beyond his own team’s errors that preceded them.

“Of course, they (the decisions) played some role in that result but the first two goals were our problems, not the referee’s problem.”

Unsurprisingly, Ruutli was in hugely despondent humour and barely speaking in full sentences – in vast contrast to the laughter he got out of his local press during Thursday’s pre-match press conference.

As for the individual decisions which caused such unhappiness – with Stepanov sent off for taking Robbie Keane down in a challenge that might have merited a straight red as opposed to just a second yellow, and Piiroja for a handball – Ruutli refused to be drawn.

“The sending-offs are about taste I suppose. How you feel. Maybe the first one was our mistake but the second one was another situation.”

Only dampening Ruutli’s mood further, both of the defenders will miss the second leg along with keeper Sergie Pareiko. The Estonian netminder was booked for his protests after substitute Stephen Hunt had been brought down for the 88th-minute penalty that turned a reversal into a rout.

Other than salvaging some pride at Lansdowne Road, however, Ruutli conceded that the suspensions are largely irrelevant in the grander scheme. Asked whether the tie was now over, Ruutli admitted “almost. It was a bad day for us.”