Republic of Ireland 5 - 0 Northern Ireland

• Simon O'Gorman
• Tue, May 24 2011


The Republic of Ireland put five past their Northern neighbours at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday night in a one-sided Carling Nations Cup clash that will have Giovanni Trapattoni beaming from ear to ear.

Expectations were low for this end of season international, a game spared the tag of being a friendly by the merest of technicalities. Not many people were expected to turn up and those that did were not expecting much of a game. Fortunately there were enough players on view, in what was arguably a second string for both sides, who felt otherwise.

While those among the sparsely populated stands were preparing to take what satisfaction they could from the pleasant evening ambience, those down on the sward played out a gentle opening few minutes before growing into a game of surprising purpose.

The Nations Cup doesn’t really mean much to the general public, not yet, and there is a general awareness that end of season engagements are not favoured by the players. It is a point that has caused Giovanni Trapattoni considerable angst in the build up to these games, but this was a team full of players that plainly want to be considered as internationals.

From as early as the sixth minute debutant Simon Cox showed the kind of willing that will have had The Trap beaming, chasing down a weak back pass by Sammy Clingan, only being beaten narrowly to the ball by Northern Irish ‘keeper Alan Blayney. A few minutes later and Millwall’s Josh McQuoid almost did the same at the other end, Paul McShane the guilty party this time as he underhit a pass intended for Shay Given.

With 13 minutes played The Northern side threatened again but in a manner oddly in keeping with a game that had yet to find its feet. Lee Hodson played a ball down the left wing that Jonny Gorman hooked in towards the danger area. It somehow threaded it’s way in between the Irish defence and striker Warren Feeney without ever coming close enough to anyone who might be able to do anything with it.

But this was the point at which the contest came alive. Kevin Foley found his touch and began to connect with the players around him in central midfield. Keith Treacy, wide on the left, began to run at opponents with impressive confidence and Simon Cox was as busy as Trapattoni, a huge fan of energetic strikers, could have wished.

Darren Coleman was also on a mission to prove his enormous potential, picking up a cleared corner and chipping astutely to the back post where McShane wasn’t able to connect fully. Then Treacy shrugged off a challenge in central midfield before whipping an optimistic shot at Blayney, followed by a lovely sequence, started by Robbie Keane, that ended with Keith Andrews curling the ball onto Blayney’s left hand post from 18 yards.

Keane might have done better two minutes later when a heavy first touch ended a move that involved some excellent play from Cox and Foley. Pressure from the Republic continued to grow and the deserved breakthrough came on 24 minutes when Treacy rolled a short corner to Cox before delivering the return ball into the area. A stooping McShane couldn’t quite reach it and Blayney parried the ball out, but only as far as Stephen Ward who clipped it high into the roof of the Northern Ireland net.

There followed a lull in goalmouth activity that had nothing to do with a lack of intent or commitment. Trapattoni’s side continued to play good football and were rewarded on 37 minutes with a second when a weak back pass from full back Hodson was pounced on by Keane. From tight on the right he chipped Blayney like the Robbie of old, a finish of genuine quality.

Two minutes later Coleman might have added a third, getting on the end of a superb ball from Foley, but seeing his shot from eight yards deflected wide. It was a temporary reprieve for Nigel Worthington’s men. On the stroke of half time Keane stepped over a ball running across the edge of the box and Cox stabbed it forward to Coleman who was lurking in among the offside line. His low cross was palmed out by Blayney only to meet the inrushing Craig Cathcart and the own goal that followed was cruel but inevitable.

It was also inevitable that with such a comprehensive scoreline the tempo would flag as the second half began, and it did. But we still had a game of considerable merit, the Republic maintaining their sense of domination while the North continued to look for ways out of the stranglehold.

After 54 minutes any possibility of the result doing an about turn were ended when Adam Thompson clipped Keane’s heels inside the box just as the veteran was about to shoot. It was a clear foul, and a penalty was duly awarded and dispatched by Keane himself. But the red card issued to the young fullback seemed out of proportion and ill suited to a game of such benign character.

Keane might have added a fifth just two minutes later when Blayney pulled off a quite magnificent save from the striker’s fiercely hit volley. But, it is a truth universally known that a game peppered with substitutions will lose its way sooner or later. So it proved as players came and went in that kaleidoscopic way that friendlies so often encourage. Had no-one told the managers that this was a Cup?

Despite the changes Simon Cox had something left for us, picking up a forward ball from Stephen Hunt in the 80th minute, picking his spot, and finishing with a low drive across Blayney and into the far corner of the net. It was a finish that put the icing on a powerful performance that will surely see the West Bromwich man involved in the future.

It was good to see Stephen Hunt back in a green shirt too, the Wolves man almost scoring at the death when he snapped a free kick across goal and off the inside of Blayney’s left hand post but, overall, it was a team performance that will have the ‘stay aways’ more than a little bit concerned about where they might now fit in to a squad that is beginning to develop real depth.

Rep Ireland: Shay Given (David Forde, 72); Paul McShane, Stephen Kelly, Damien Delaney Stephen Ward; Seamus Coleman (Liam Lawrence, 55), Kevin Foley (Stephen Hunt, 70), Keith Andrews, Keith Treacy; Robbie Keane (Andy Keogh, 62), Simon Cox.
Subs not used: Darren O’Dea, Sean St Ledger, Darren Randolph.

Bookings: None.
Sendings Off: None.

Northern Ireland: Alan Blayney; Adam Thompson, Lee Hodson, Craig Cathcart, Gareth McAuley; Sammy Clingan, Josh Carson (Niall McGinn, 72), Steven Davis (Robert Garrett, 76), Jonny Gorman Colin Coates, 55); Warren Feeney (Liam Boyce, 72), Josh McQuoid (Oliver Norwood, 46).
Subs not used: Jonathan Tuffey, Stuart Dallas, Jordan Owens, Carl Winchester.

Bookings: None.
Sendings Off: Thompson (53).

extratime.ie Man of the Match: Stephen Ward for a debut goal and a fine attacking performance from full back.

Referee: Craig Thomson (Scotland).

Attendance: 15,092 .