Ireland go from bad to worse

Republic of Ireland - 1 Switzerland - 2: The world, they say, loves winners and at Lansdowne Road last night Mick McCarthy discovered that Irish levels of indulgence for those who fail to meet the mark are very much in line with international standards.Their chants for the absent Roy Keane at the end must have hurt the 43-year-old almost as much as the goals Switzerland scored at the end of each half.

And the fact that his team is rooted firmly to the bottom of their qualifying group table will serve as a painful reminder of a grim night at least until the trip to Georgia then Albania in March of next year.

McCarthy, though, can have few complaints this morning for this was probably Ireland's worst performance at home since those fruitless attempts to break down Iceland and Lithuania during his first campaign.

The only really positive point that could have been drawn from the mess in Moscow five weeks ago - that it could only get better - was made to look like boundless optimism by the home side's showing during the latter stages of the first half.

McCarthy's decision to throw Kevin Kilbane into attack from the 30th minute in order, one presumes, to give Damien Duff a free run at the man he had identified as the visiting side's weak point on Saturday in Tirana, suggested that the man had lost confidence even in his own ability to call tactical shots. And what was gained by the switch was more than cancelled out by the Sunderland winger's almost complete anonymity alongside Robbie Keane and Duff's failure to provide the sort of protection to Ian Harte that is generally the strongest justification for Kilbane's repeated inclusion in the starting line-up.

Harte, once again, looked vulnerable but on this occasion that hardly left him standing out. None of the back four played well and when the left back badly under-hit a pass towards Shay Given, Kenny Cunningham's decision to attempt to block Ricardo Cabanas's path rather than chase a ball himself that he was initially much closer to made it difficult to escape the conclusion that the Irish were storing up trouble for themselves.

Sure enough, they conceded the game's first goal with seconds of the first half remaining when Murat Yakin lofted a free over Gary Breen and Gary Kelly and into the area from where his brother Yakin lobbed Shay Given as he rushed off his line.

The manner of the goal was something of a surprise as it was the running of the Swiss from deep positions that presented Ireland with their greatest difficulties. The fact that their side were behind at the break clearly came as a shock to the crowd, a sizeable portion of whom booed their players from the pitch at half-time.

It was a huge turnaround from the opening few minutes when, fleetingly, it seemed that the Irish had put last month's nightmare behind them. Mark Kinsella had staked an early claim to control of central midfield, Duff and Keane had quickly rattled the Swiss central defence and Breen had even treated us to a couple of his party-piece displays of over-confidence around his box. Perhaps we should have suspected then that there would be trouble ahead.

Ireland even had a couple of good chances to take the lead but it was more than half an hour before they came really close when Keane, with Kinsella's assistance, sprung the Swiss offside trap gloriously only to push the ball too far past Swiss goalkeeper Jorg Stiel and then shoot anyway when he should have squared for Duff.

Stung by the prospect of a second successive defeat and their first at home in a competitive game since Austria won here in 1995, Ireland acquired a sense of urgency before returning for the second half. Their work-rate improved dramatically but they looked no better able to figure out how they might break down a determined Swiss defence much less how the capable looking Stiel might then be beaten.

And as early as the 55th minute there were signs that they would again be punished for over-committing, as they had done against the Russians, when Alexander Frei broke down the right-hand side and, with Kelly the only covering defender, hit his cross for Raphael Wicky far too close to Given.

When Clinton Morrison finally replaced Kilbane Ireland did start to look more likely to score, but there was always a lingering suspicion that they would again be caught on the break. They were, although after a couple of close things the equaliser came first.

Colin Healy, not nearly so influential as in his friendly outings, might have grabbed the goal with a moment of brilliance that left three defenders floundering and the Corkman one on one with the goalkeeper. On that occasion he was harshly penalised for a push, though, and when Keane, Morrison and then Duff linked up seven minutes later it took a desperate outstretched leg by Murat Yakin to prevent the ball reaching the back of the net.

Eventually, with 12 minutes remaining a Harte free-kick proved the source of the desperately needed goal with left back Ludovic Magnin, under pressure from Breen at the far post, the unfortunate one who turned the ball in.

Ireland pressed immediately for a winner but instead came a cropper at the back. Harte's replacement by Gary Doherty two minutes from time left a gap at the back which, before it had been filled, provided the opportunity for Fabio Celestini to steal into space and drive home from the edge of the area.

Within a couple of minutes of the restart the Swiss victory was complete and again there were boos followed by some defiant cheering. On the pitch Ireland's players made their way towards the dressing-room knowing that they must now scrap their way back into this group if even another play-off is to be salvaged.

And behind them their supporters slipped quietly away towards home, clearly feeling badly let down just two games into a campaign which just a few weeks ago promised so much for this Irish team.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Given (Newcastle United); Kelly (Leeds United), Breen (West Ham United), Cunningham (Birmingham City); Healy (Celtic), Kinsella (Aston Villa), Holland (Ipswich Town), Kilbane (Sunderland); Keane (Tottenham Hotspur), Duff (Blackburn Rovers). Subs: Morrison (Birmingham City) for Kilbane (62 mins), Butler (Sunderland) for Duff (83 mins), Doherty (Tottenham Hotspur) for Harte (86 mins)

SWITZERLAND: Stiel; Haas, M Yakin, Muller, Magnin; Canabas, Vogel, Wicky; H Yakin; Frei, Chapuisat. Subs: Rurre for Frei (71 mins), Celestini and Cantaluppi for Wicky and H Yakin (85 mins).