So it looks like Stephen Kenny can play the long game

‘In Kenny We Trust,’ read a banner held aloft as the national anthem rang out and the crowd, in both its number and in its volume, wasn’t in any way suggestive of an audience subdued or disgruntled by the run of one win in 15 games. Their faith was sorely tested here

Stephen Kenny celebrates Ireland’s equaliser. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

Turned out Stephen Kenny can play the long game better than most.

That may have come as a surprise, given all the hullabaloo about the Republic of Ireland manager’s determination to rewrite the team’s code with a blueprint that eschews the aerial route and reconnects it root and branch to the soil.