Postcard from Baku: There will be no drowning of our sorrows in Azerbaijan - no matter the result

Republic of Ireland supporters, from left, Michael Byrne, from Leicester, England, Caroline Ginty, from Longford, and Shane Darby, from Mullingar, Westmeath, in Baku, ahead of their team's FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifier against Azerbaijan. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Azerbaijan has developed an obsession with Formula One but the small travelling green army weren’t impressed with the fast finishes applying to Baku’s pubs.

As is traditional, the 300 diehards who trekked 5,000 kilometres converged on the Irish hostelries, only to have their belated socialising stunted by a Covid-19 enforced midnight embargo. “But it’s only quarter-to-nine at home,” chanced one wise sage in response to the last orders call.