Coulter goal crucial in clean and tight affair

INTERNATIONAL RULES SECOND TEST/Australia 53 Ireland 57 :IN THE END it turned on one moment. After over an hour's well-behaved football - to the giddy relief of all sports administrators - the 2008 Toyota International Rules series ticked the other, admittedly smaller, box by hanging in the balance with about eight minutes left. Ireland had established a 17-point lead going into the final quarter at the MCG and proceedings had become almost desultory with the Australians looking too far behind, the second Test and the series with it were fizzling out.

As in the first Test a week previously however, the home side responded in the last quarter and cut the deficit to 10 (51-41). Then Ciarán McKeever misjudged a bounce and Daniel Motlop got a clear run through the middle. He weaved this way and that as he closed on goal before laying off a good pass to Shaun Burgoyne and his finish was crisp and tidy and suddenly Ireland were just four ahead and the momentum had drained away from them.

Four points wouldn't have been much of an insulation given how hard Ireland had been finding it to break out of defence. Within two minutes the matter had been settled. Leighton Glynn, who capped an excellent series with another hard-working and clever display, put the ball into Kieran Donaghy, who also built on his high-quality first Test display with another great display of ball winning and intelligent use of possession. His flick allowed the incoming Benny Coulter to fist home Ireland's fourth goal and effectively to decide the destination of the Cormac McAnallen Cup.

Coulter came into the match with a severe back injury and had only been passed fit on Thursday night but again he showed his uncanny knack of scoring goals at international level. His two goals last night brought his career total to five, making him the leading Ireland goalscorer since the internationals were revived 10 years ago.

That score gave the visitors sufficient breathing room to play out the remaining eight minutes without mishap although a scrambled injury-time goal from Drew Petrie, a versatile player with the added advantage of being the biggest footballer on the field, meant there was a panicky feel to the closing moments, as it would have been an injustice had Ireland contrived to blow the match at that stage.

There were a number of outstanding Irish performances on the night with captain Seán Cavanagh and vice-captain Graham Canty leading the way. Canty received the award for Ireland's player of the series after another barnstorming display in defence left him Ireland's top ball player with 28 possession and if you distrust the aridity of the statistical count, he superbly rose to the challenge of the fourth quarter, making tackles and taking a crucial mark.

Cavanagh led his team's revival at the very end of the first quarter when it looked as if forebodings about the Australians' ability to improve on the first Test had come home for an early roost. With two minutes on the clock before the break the Irish captain calmly kicked two "overs" to reduce a deficit of 15-6 to a sizeably more manageable three-point gap.

Both teams could feel a little frustrated by their failure to do better from the chances that came their way. Steven McDonnell got on a great deal of ball but his shooting was badly on the blink and he had to content himself with "behinds", something Irish footballers are queasy about.

Australia were more at odds with the round ball than we have come to expect and ran up some terrible wides from close-in frees and marks and squandered a couple of goal opportunities. Yet in the first quarter they were relentlessly pounding away at Ireland and building a daunting score. Ireland were tentative and didn't succeed in establishing a sustained attacking presence.

Too often they relied on keeping the ball on the ground, soccer-style, simply because the long or medium-range kicked pass wasn't coming to hand and needed evasive action with speedy defenders licking their chops in lupine attendance. To the Australians it looked like putting on a show except not a great deal was coming from it as the defenders carefully shadowed the attackers.

Again the home defence played well in general play. They leaked four goals but in terms of work and cover, they applied themselves. Kade Simpson won the Jim Stynes medal for their player of the series and his display last night, a force field of sweeping and carrying, didn't make the award controversial. Captain Brent Harvey delivered again with a tireless display in the middle.

Eoin Liston had worked with the forwards in trying to give the attacking threat more coherence and taken over the course of the four quarters that worked. Cavanagh afterwards paid tribute to the movement of the forwards and their combination play, which was to be seen to good effect in the build-up to some of the goals.

The six-pointers, which are supposed to be an advantage to Ireland although their history in the series is more ambiguous, like last week came to Ireland's assistance. The total of seven goals shot over the two Tests hasn't been bettered by Ireland since 1986.

The first of Ireland's goals pushed the team into a lead they wouldn't lose. Glynn attacked and picked out Donaghy who steered the ball across Firrito, restored to goal after Nathan Bock's shaky appearance last week, and into the far side of the net for a 21-16 lead. Just minutes from half-time that lead was extended after some excellent approach work saw Paddy Bradley and Michael Meehan combine to send in Enda McGinley, just minutes after he had miscued a fisted attempt at an open goal, whose confident wrong-footing of Bock opened up a goal chance that he coolly dispatched.

In the third quarter Australia responded and Ireland went up until nearly the break with only two "behinds" to show for the 18 minutes. Then in the dying minutes the match headed off in another direction when Ireland raided nine points. Meehan sacked Matthew Boyd near his own end-line - and possibly held him without the ball - before steering the ball to Coulter who slotted his first goal of the night. Immediately Coulter helped create space for Donaghy who swung in a glorious "over" and set the scene for the tense final quarter.