Staunton relieved after last-gasp win

Republic of Ireland manager Steve Staunton expressed his relief and anger following the latest sorry showing from his misfiring side.

A goal eight seconds from the end of injury time spared Staunton’s blushes, but he remains a man under pressure in the wake of a narrow 2-1 escape against San Marino.

Manuel Marini appeared to have twisted the knife into Staunton with an equaliser six minutes from the end of normal time, with that goal cancelling out Kevin Kilbane’s 49th-minute opener at the Serravalle Stadium.

With San Marino standing on the brink of clinching their first point in their European Championship history following 37 consecutive defeats, Manchester City midfielder Stephen Ireland tapped home from eight yards.

That did not stop irate fans from booing the team, criticising Staunton, and as calling for the head of Football Association of Ireland chief executive John Delaney.

When asked for his message to the disgruntled supporters, a defiant Staunton replied: “We will keep going. Obviously, we are angry ourselves but we are rebuilding and trying to look forward.

“We don’t like coming here and just scraping through, but you have to see the other side of this in that we have enough character to win in the end and that’s the main thing.”

A direct question was put to Staunton as to whether he would have considered his position if San Marino had conjured up a point, but again he stood firm as he replied: “No, not at all.”

Just four months after the 5-2 humiliation to Cyprus in Nicosia, it remains to be seen just how many more poor results Staunton can withstand.

This match bore the hallmarks of another infamous night in Ireland’s football history when they were held to a goalless draw by Liechtenstein in a 1995 European Championship qualifier.

Referring to that, Staunton said: “We were looking at Liechtenstein all over again.

“Following this, my overriding emotion is one of relief, but we showed tremendous heart, spirit and fight.

“We created three or four chances after they scored and eventually we took one to win the game.

“After going 1-0 up in the second half I thought we would go on to win comfortably.

“We didn’t, but what more can I say? We’ve got three points and we keep moving on.

“Clearly, the players are disappointed with the performance, but again you cannot question their attitude.

“We controlled the game from start to finish apart from the one mix-up for their goal, and thankfully Stephen Ireland got us out of a hole.”

The Republic did waste a number of opportunities in the opening half before Wigan winger Kilbane popped up with a close-range header after debutant Shane Long had flicked on a right-wing cross from Steve Finnan.

Ireland continued to lack a cutting edge, and in the 86th minute they paid the penalty when a horrendous blunder involving half-time substitute Paul McShane and goalkeeper Wayne Henderson allowed Marini to threaten one of the greatest upsets.

The San Marino striker found himself buried under an avalanche of players as they celebrated the goal, one that Staunton described as “diabolical”.

He added: “It was very poor. There was a complete lack of concentration.

“But every team you play against, no matter who they are, will always get a chance.”

Staunton’s chances appear to be running out, despite Ireland scoring his second goal in three appearances for his country to get his boss out of jail.