Liam Brady’s words ring true despite finale

A difficult night, regardless of the frantic finish. 

It was one made somehow worse by the noise and colour generated by the thousands of Poles whose presence stirred reminders of the good old days for Irish fans when they too travelled from far and wide to back a team that repaid them in kind.

Red and white flags fluttered around the four sides of the cold and wet Aviva Stadium bearing names of towns and cities — among them Dublin, Tuam, Ballymena, Aberdeen, Oslo and Berlin — that spoke painfully and yet proudly of the pain of forced emigration.