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WORLD CUP QUALIFYING GROUP EIGHT Bulgaria 1 Rep of Ireland 1: SUCH IS the depth of their rivalry that even when the Bulgarian national team plays, the fans of CSKA and Levski Sofia need to be kept firmly apart and the word ahead of this game at Levski’s sold-out stadium on Saturday was that they might be separated by a sea of green.

As it turned out, it didn’t quite come to that and the local factions seemed to find common cause from time to time in barracking the visiting fans. Over a long and nail-biting night for those watching from the sidelines, however, it was the Irish who had a near monopoly on unity of purpose as the 2,500 or so supporters who had travelled cheered on a team whose sheer will to get something out of the game seemed to comfortably merit the vitally important point they secured.