Kerr happy with draw

Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr declared himself satisfied with a point from his side’s 1-1 draw against Switzerland.

Kerr had demanded four points from Ireland’s opening two World Cup qualifying matches and it was mission accomplished after holding the Swiss to the draw at Basle’s St Jakob Park.

Ireland made the perfect start to silence a passionate 28,000 crowd, with Birmingham striker Clinton Morrison glancing home a left-wing cross from Damian Duff in the eighth minute.

The goal was a replica of the opener in Saturday’s 3-0 group four victory over Cyprus at Lansdowne Road.

But Kerr’s side were unable to build on their advantage as they did against the Cypriots as the Swiss quickly poured forward in search of an equaliser point.

Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given made three outstanding saves in the space of five minutes to deny Murat Yakin, Alexandre Rey and Hakan Yakin.

But a goal always looked on the cards and it duly arrived in the 17th minute when Hakan Yakin finally beat Given with an angled left-foot shot across the face of the Republic number one.

Ireland, though, managed to weather the storm and should have headed into the break with their lead restored but Morrison, Robbie Keane and Kevin Kilbane were all denied.

After the interval, the opportunities faded as both sides tightened up, although the final word was left to the outstanding Given as he pulled off another sensational stop to deny Hakan Yakin.

“I am happy with a point,” stated Kerr.

“I said before I would be happy with four points from the two games and that’s what we have.

“It’s one more point than we gained from the two matches against Switzerland last time around (in the European Championship qualifiers).

“As for the performance, I know we can do better. We made plenty of chances in the first half, but then we gave away too many.

“We were a bit cavalier at times, but overall it was a decent enough performance.

“We had a few players who weren’t 100% and not match sharp and we had a few players out who might have played, so compared to last time around we are in a better position.”

At times during the second half, the match threatened to boil over as it became tetchy and petulant, with Greek referee Kyros Vassilas not in full control.

With Stephen Carr and Roy Keane booked on his return to competitive international match action for the first time in almost three years, Kerr felt those cautions were harsh.

“The support was very partisan and it can affect referee’s decisions, with the bookings a little one-sided,” added Kerr.

“But that’s what you expect in away games. You expect referees to be somewhat affected by the crowd. At our home games we don’t always have that impact, but certainly they do here.

“But we stood up well in the last 10 minutes when they put pressure on us and Shay made a fantastic save, while we defended very well considering we had a small team out.”

Next up for Ireland is France in Paris, with Les Bleus without skipper Patrick Vieira following his sending off in today’s 2-0 victory in the Faroe Islands.

Kerr is unconcerned by that, adding: “I heard about him getting sent off. That is not as big a boost to us as this point is tonight because France have lots of players to pick from and they are all very good players.

“It’s not that big a deal. It’s more important that we got something from this game and we go to Paris better for it.”

Switzerland coach Kobi Kuhn also felt the result was a fair one.

He said: “Ireland are a very strong team and they are certainly stronger than the last time we played them.

“I am disappointed with the result, but if you look at the game overall it is okay because both sides had several chances.

“Of course, I would be more happy with six points, but overall I am happy with four of course.”