Morrison goal draws comfort

Switzerland 1 Republic of Ireland 1: A sending off for almost comical ill discipline in Torshavn that will keep Patrick Vieira out of next month's clash between France and Ireland had provided the Irish support here in Basel with some modest cause for celebration even before Ireland's second game of this new World Cup campaign had started.

Briefly, it seemed, the good news wouldn't stop there for when Clinton Morrison rewrote his recent scoring record to read "two from his last two games" just eight minutes into a hard-fought but ultimately disappointing game the visiting support was suddenly electrified by the prospect of a memorable night back in the city that most of last year's contingent would prefer to forget.

The Swiss struck back with spirit and some attacking swagger in the immediate aftermath of the goal, however, and Hakan Yakin's equaliser just short of 17 minutes restored a parity that leaves Ireland, on balance, did well to maintain to the evening's end.

The result leave four sides tied on four points in qualifying group number four.

Brian Kerr's started brightly with Andy Reid perhaps a little moree subdued than he had been on Saturday and Kilbane less assured but through the opening exchanges they more than held their own as the two teams sized each other up.

The process was far from complete, however, when Clinton Morrison's goal jolted the game dramatically into life. Almost a repeat of his opener against Cyprus, Duff again provided the cross from the left and the Birmingham City striker made contact with a delicately judged glancing header which left Pascal Zuberbuhler diving helplessly towards the bottom left corner of his goal.

At the far end of the St Jakob stadium the couple of thousand Irish fans were jubilant while the locals displayed some displeasure with the identity of the scorer, Morrison having clearly dented his popularity in these parts by alleging racism against their suspended striker, Alexander Frei. The striker himself displayed all the satisfaction of a man who had rewarded the faith shown in him by Kerr and proved of a point to those who had questioned the wisdom of keeping him in the side after almost a year without a goal.

The celebrations, as it turned out, were to be short-lived. The Swiss injected pace into their game almost from the kick off and the visitors suddenly found themselves under a good deal more pressure in the final third of the pitch.

The chief source of their troubles, as he had been 11 months ago, was Hakan Yakin who despite facing a stronger central defensive partnership and the return of Roy Keane was again able to find plenty of space in which to operate in front of Ireland's back four.

When Kilbane and Keane dropped back to provide cover to the Irish defence Yakin was deprived of the freedom he otherwise enjoyed but the Kerr's men found themselves little better off as Johann Vogel was suddenly handed the opportunity to press forward from his normally more defensive position almost to the edge of the Irish area.

His enterprise was rewarded after a hectic spell in which Shay Given had three times been forced to make very fine saves. The goalkeeper first touched a powerfully struck Murat Yakin free on to the crossbar and then saved well with his foot after a Roy keane error had sent Alexandre Rey clear with only the Donegalman to beat. Finally Swiss debutant Tranquillo Barnetta found Hakan Yakin in space between Kenny Cunningham and Steve Finnan and Given reacted swiftly to the Stuttgart midfielder's attempt to push his shot low past the keeper.

Moments later it was the local's turn to come out on top when the situation was effectively rerun. Vogel started the home side's move by stealing the ball from Kilbane's feet and after Barnetta pushed the ball into the path of Yakin the midfielder carved out a path between Cunningham and Roy Keane before turning the ball low past Given for the equaliser.

The relief of being level again seemed to take some of the bite of the Swiss game and as the locals shifted down a gear the pace of the game slowed through and the Irish were able to consolidate through the rest of the half, a spell in which they looked a good deal more comfortable.

Occasionally there were signs of lingering niggles between the two sides and the contest was increasingly disrupted by stoppages for minor tussles, many of which were followed by appeals to the Greek referee from players of both sides for opponents to be booked.

Roy Keane was one of three Irish players who did receive a yellow card before the interval and not long after the break there was a brief campaign by the locals to have been sent off.

What he could not provide was much by way of support when players around him sought to break forward and when Reid or Duff did so they repeatedly found themselves short of options.

Duff's best moment came in the opening half when, just as he had done on Saturday, he skipped past two defenders before going down when challenged by a third. This time, however, there was to be no penalty.

Late on neither he nor Reid seemed capable of igniting the Irish attack and there were only fleeting moments when the home side found themselves under any real pressure. Robbie Keane made little enough impact although given the amount of possession that came his way in the second half it is hard to see how he could have done a whole lot more.

At the other end the Irish did at least get to grips with their task after some shaky moments early on. Steve Finnan coped well as left back and though Steve Carr quickly found himself being harried from all directions almost every time he got the ball the Newcastle right back also held his own for most of the contest.

In the centre Cunningham and Andy O'Brien had to embark on some serious improvisation during the second period as Swiss pressure for a winner began to mount.

SWITZERLAND: Zuberbuhler; Haas, M Yakin, Muller, Magnin; Cabanas, Vogel, Barnetta; H Yakin; Rey, Vonlanten. Sub: Lonfat for Vonlanthen (72 mins).

IRELAND: Given (Newcastle United); Carr (Newcastle United), Cunningham (Reid Birmingham City), O'Brien (Newcastle United), Finnan (Liverpool); Reid (Nottingham Forest), Keane (Manchester United), Kilbane (Everton), Duff (Chelsea); Keane (Tottenham Hotspur), Morrison (Birmingham City). Subs: Kavanagh (Cardiff City) for Reid (72 mins), Doherty (Norwich City) for Morrison (84 mins).

Referee: K Vassaras (Greece).