A whole new ball game as fans vent anger

The FAI’s newly-minted executive vice-president is no stranger to terrace taunts but John Delaney must have been braced for a particularly long and uncomplimentary spot of serenading from the South Stand last night after the spill of events in and around the group opener against Gibraltar. Reports before kick-off had it that the association’s blazers discussed recent off-the-field matters at a board meeting earlier in the day but, in one way at least, it was business as usual for the man now perched somewhat more awkwardly at the apex of Irish football’s pyramid.

Delaney loyalists have not gone entirely to ground in recent days. He was snapped accommodating a line of well-wishers in the Aviva Stadium’s corporate section early in the evening but an air of uncertainty and giddiness lingered beyond those polished glass doors. How would the terraces make plain their feelings?