'No classic' as Jamie McGrath admits improvement needed from Ireland

Stephen Kenny was glad of the clean sheet as the Boys in Green won narrowly in Malta.

Sun, 20 Nov, 2022 - 17:33

John Fallon

Man of the match Jamie McGrath admits Ireland will require an improvement after scraping past minnows Malta thanks to a “fortunate” goal.

Reviving his club career back in Scotland after it stalled at Wigan Athletic, his first Ireland appearance for a year was one of the few positives in an unconvincing win.

“We probably didn't create as much as we'd want,” admitted the Dundee United man.

“We had a few chances here and there, maybe one or two, but we definitely deserved to come out on top.

“We tried to break the lines as much as we could – it's something we've been working on. We know we have to get better at it.

“They made it tough for us. They're compact. We had to move the ball a bit quicker and knew if we were patient enough, our time would come.

“Our goal was probably fortunate enough, to be honest, but I think we deserved it.”

Manager Stephen Kenny was doing his best to put an upbeat spin on his latest night of toil. Ireland’s struggles, both in fluency and optimising their set-pieces, were apparent in his low-key affair.

“It was important to keep a clean sheet tonight,” he said about holding the minnows scoreless.

“No game in international football away from home is easy to win.

“One of the things about Malta is that they have had an improved record recently, they’ve got some good results recently, so there is a little bit of a resurgence there.

“There is no doubt that the match itself wasn’t a classic, far from it. But we were pleased that we got a clean sheet and there were some good aspects to it. We have played a lot better and lost.”

On the sluggish set-pieces, both corners and free-kicks, he said: “To be fair, it was a blustery windy night, so the inswingers were blowing right into the goalkeeper.

“He did well to be fair by catching everything.

“We changed it at half-time and out-swung a couple then. The wind died a little bit at half-time and we weren't successful on set-plays tonight.”

Callum O’Dowda has pushed himself into contention for the Euro opener against France on March 27, following up his first game in two years against Norway by coming on and striking the post.

“It was a great effort and I thought he’d scored, so was unfortunate,” said his manager.

“That would have been his first international goal. It’s good to have that element of competition because we need it.

“The nature of games, particularly in the Championship, it’s so relentless that you can’t be certain who will be fit and who will not be fit.” He also spoke highly of Chiedozie Ogbene, who partnered goalscorer Callum Robinson in the absence of injured Michael Obafemi.

“Callum and Michael playing together are better maybe as split strikers than twin strikers,” he admitted.

“Certainly today, I think Chiedozie excels in space. He has been a right-winger most of his career and anytime he has played up front for Ireland he has been brilliant as well. But obviously exploiting space is key.

He is learning about playing against a low block himself as a forward, so it’s different, it requires different attributes at times. He gave it everything and has been brilliant for us since he came in.”