Irish caught by late Australian surge

The contrasting post-match demeanours told the whole story. Australian coach Leigh Matthews, his captain Wayne Carey and the visitors' man-of-the-match Nathan Buckley conducted a relaxed press conference in the wake of a well-timed surge in the final quarter which lifted them from oblivion to a one-point victory in yesterday's first test of the Coca Cola International Rules series at Croke Park.

Ireland manager Colm O'Rourke, on the other hand, was subdued and sounded pessimistic about next week's second test given his squad's injury problems and the home side's abject collapse on the threshold of what would have been a very valuable victory. Having led virtually all through the match, Ireland conceded two goals in the final quarter and fell behind for the first time - by a point - with only two minutes remaining. That minimum gap proved unbridgeable.

In his comments O'Rourke complained about the Australians' physical attentions and stunned Australian journalists by announcing that he wanted the visitors' Dublin-born veteran Jim Stynes to switch sides for the second test. In truth, whereas Ireland had played well to establish a winning position, it was carelessness which surrendered the lead and that lack of concentration was the main difference between the teams at the death.

Maybe it was significant that the damage was done in and around the last 10 minutes of the match. The Irish players are used to playing 70 minutes and in the unchartered territory between then and the 80th minute they tired - as much mentally as physically - and conceded the initiative.

As the clock ran down, Ireland lost the well-drilled discipline that had pushed them to the fore. Less care was taken over distribution and players began to forget the necessity of quick release and avoiding the physical tackle allowed under International Rules.

The only outbreak of violence had happened at the end of the third quarter. After the hooter had sounded for the break, there was a mass brawl. By the end of it, the only player disciplined had been Ireland goalkeeper Finbarr McConnell, who was sent off only to be reprieved during the break. He would probably have been a bit unlucky to get the line even if he did travel a distance to get involved, given the `bench clearance' of Australian replacements, who ran in to join the fray.

There was some obvious diplomatic activity at the break with an angry O'Rourke having to be dragged away from remonstrating with the Australian referee by one of his fellow selectors, Mickey Moran, and Pat Daly, the GAA's International Rules co-ordinator, having a quieter word with the officials. Both sides used virtually their full complement of inter-change players in a departure from previous rules which limited their number to five. In the end Ireland used eight and the Australians six.

Overall the match was more notable for its blistering conclusion than for the quality of the play in the early stages. Ireland's clear superiority in the first three quarters drained the match of real tension and it only perked up when Australia came back in final quarter and the result was belatedly thrown into doubt.

O'Rourke is right to be concerned about injuries to John McDermott, Brian Stynes and Colm McManamon. McDermott and Stynes were two of Ireland's very best players on the afternoon.

The former played a captain's role, moving around the pitch and proving competitive in the air and robust on the ground although the midfield was well contested by Nathan Buckley's consistently industrious work around the sector.

Brian Stynes's experience in Australia, where he played with brother Jim in Melbourne for a year or so, appeared to give him an intuitive grasp of how to keep the ball moving. Unfortunately, he damaged his calf at the very end after taking an heroic mark ahead of Wayne Carey.

As expected, the visitors took time to find their feet. In the first quarter they looked at odds with the game and Ireland were quicker and sharper, running up an 11-point lead by the 11th minute and a 19-8 first-quarter lead.

Given the manner in which David Neitz converted from full back to full forward in the final quarter and used his height to wreak havoc, Matthews and his team won't be as slow the next day to use one of their very tall players on Darren Fay who, despite not being exactly Lilliputian, isn't that happy under aerial bombardment.

Fay played very well for most of the match but the giant-size problem of `Spider' Everitt and the only slightly-reduced threat of captain Wayne Carey began to hint at the optimum way for the Australians to play their full forwards.

Otherwise the Irish defence was good for the most part. Sean Lockhart had a fine match although he had a tendency to give away possession. Seamus Moynihan was mobile and assured when introduced as an inter-change and in second half, Kildare's Glen Ryan lent great presence to the backs and he will be sorely missed if his county board insist on fixing his club Round Towers' championship match for next weekend.

In attack, Dermot McCabe was a success at full forward, top-scoring with 14 points, including a 32nd-minute goal when Derry Foley and Paul Brewster combined to send him in for a six-pointer. However, he did have two other goal chances which yielded nothing thanks to smart saves by the big Australian goalkeeper Stephen Silvagni.

Peter Canavan was a constant threat in the left corner although Shane Crawford badgered him throughout. It was after such a piece of badgering in the 43rd minute that Crawford drew a lucky free but mis-kicked across goal for Finbarr Cullen to snap up possession and place Michael Donnellan for Ireland's second goal and a 10-point lead.

Ironically, Ireland had just established their biggest lead of the afternoon, 16 points, in the 63rd minute when the comeback started. A loose clearance by Sean de Paor was intercepted by Nathan Eagleton whose finish cut like a thunderclap through the air of inevitability hanging over the match.

Within a minute the inspirational Carey took a great mark and kicked an over and the margin was down to seven. Neitz's impact was beginning to tell with another fine mark and a resulting behind reducing the margin to a goal with four minutes left.

The decisive scores came from a long ball delivered by Jim Stynes and to which Neitz rose and flicked to the net. With the crowd suddenly in feverish transports, it was Scott Camporeale who had the presence of mind to shoot a behind in the 79th minute and nudge his team ahead for the first time in the match.

The hooter sounded shortly afterwards. To Irish ears, it must have seemed like a burglar alarm.