Visitors blast crater in our road to France

IT IS reappraisal time in the Republic of Ireland camp after a bankrupt performance failed to yield the win that everybody, apart from a knot of stubborn Icelanders, expected at Lansdowne Road yesterday.

A game which started with the barracking of an Irish player, unprecedented at a home game, ended with a further show of disapproval after the visitors had dug out a point which flew in the face of pedigree.

In between, a crowd of almost 34,000 had often been reduced to gasps of exasperation as one mistake succeeded another in the Republic's attempt to break down a massed Icelandic defence.

Iceland, humiliated by a 4-0 thrashing at home by Romania in their last game, had escaped defeat against all the odds. Suddenly the Republic's road to the World Cup finals in France in 1998 looks long and stoney.

If the loss of two home points is not a mortal blow to qualification prospects, it is, undeniably, a serious setback. And with two difficult away games, in Macedonia and Romania, looming next April, the scenario is not exactly inviting.

In retrospect, it is easy to say that the mood of an unpleasant day was established right at the start when Roy Keane, back in the team after an eight month absence, was booed by a section of the crowd every time he touched the ball.

Keane, it seemed, had taken one liberty too many when he appeared to thumb his nose at the public in midweek - and they were not slow to vent their disapproval. Ironically, the media, who had been on the sharp end of his venom, later voted him the Man of the Match, when the award should clearly have gone to Iceland's captain, Sirqudar Jonsson.

Jonsson, who had a spell with Arsenal without ever managing to break into their first team, proved an inspiring captain at the centre of the defence as he soaked up the early Irish pressure without ever making a mistake.

In a sense, it said it all about this improbable team, largely unsophisticated but strong and competitive enough to break whatever rhythm there was in the opposition. The formula was not dissimilar to that which the Irish had inflicted on others in the past. And it worked.

Yet, abrasiveness alone ought not have demoralised the Irish to the point where even the basics evaded them and good players were eventually guilty of an appalling lack of invention.

Too often, the comfortable latoral pass was deployed. Too seldom was the perception forthcoming to project the telling ball which might have opened up a defence which grew from an uncertain start to exert firm control in the second half.

Irish manager Mick McCarthy's tactical gamble in playing Keane at the back also misfired. However, the Manchester United player proved he had the character to survive his hostile reception by emerging as the best of a disappointing lot, and it ought recorded that in discharging his basic duties in defence, he always looked comfortable. But the critical need yesterday was for an aggressive midfield runner who could get among the Icelandic defence.

The point was duly acknowledged by McCarthy in the 64th minute when he restored Keane to more familiar surroundings in the centre of the middle line after introducing Kenny Cunningham and Ian Harte in a double substitution.

For a few minutes it looked as if the switch would pay off as the Irish upped the pressure. But soon, too soon, the impetus was lost and it was back to the guileless build up of the first half.

In all, Birkir Kristinsson, the visiting goalkeeper, was required to make only two saves which approximated to heroics. That said it all about a game which is easily consigned to the list of Lansdowne's more forgettable occasions.

Apart from Keane's contribution and the honest grafting of Tony Cascarino as he battled against the heavyweights assembled in the Icelandic penalty area, few of the home team escaped with their reputations intact.

Gary Breen, too often settling for the easy option, was no more than modest; Jeff Kenna struggled at right back; on the opposite flank, Phil Babb was a long way below the form which in another era established him as a fine international player.

The more expensive failures, however, were in midfield - and none more so than Jason McAteer who, after masterminding the dismissal of Macedonia, now looked some way short of the requirements for a central midfield player.

Unable to conjure up the incisive pass and unquestionably lucky to avoid a booking after an off the ball incident involving Heimir Gudjonsson, McAteer made no real contribution on this occasion and was eventually shunted to the right wing.

Nor was there much to recommend the performances of Andy Townsend or Alan McLoughlin, although the latter, on occasion, looked promising at a stage of the game when self doubt had not yet crept like a paralysis through the team.

Of Iceland it can be said that they managed to disguise their limitations in class by sheer persistence and a willingness to compete for everything with singular commitment. At times, it bordered on the fringes of legality in a game in which the names of three Icelanders and two Irishmen, Breen and David Kelly went into the referee's notebook.

Kelly, summoned to first team status for the first time in more than a year, started well, and with Cascarino competitive as ever in the air, those opening minutes were full of promise. Olafur Adolfsson, under pressure, almost turned a cross from the Sunderland player into his own net and, later still, McLoughlin demanded a good save from Kristinsson with a shot from 20 yards.

At this stage, the game was running loosely to script and in 21 minutes, Cascarino, wrongfooted by the timely nudge from Eyjolfur Sverrisson, only just failed to apply the decisive finish to a Townsend corner.

Keane, racing through in support of his front men, met Denis Irwin's free kick perfectly with his head only to see Kristinsson save. But there was a hint of trouble in the making when Jonsson drove a free kick from 30 yards at speed just wide of Alan Kelly's right hand post.

In the end, that was as close as Iceland came to scoring and yet, significantly, Alan Kelly was required to make the best save of the second half after Helgi Sigurdsson had shaken off Babb's tackle to fire in a shot from 15 yards. Nothing of substance came from the Irish attack, and the months ahead threaten to be heavy with self doubt.