Guile over grunt decides the issue

So much for ‘home’ comforts.

Glasgow has always been a blue-collar city and, though this occasion aroused all sorts of romantic and emotional notions about identity and history, it was, at its heart, a game that eschewed fripperies and instead exuded a raw, elemental quality.

In the end, Ireland’s industriousness and bite on an evening when the visiting team amassed a succession of yellow cards, fell well short of a home side that was deservedly rewarded for an approach that always sought to prioritise guile over grunt.