Rep of Ireland 1 (Lawrence 37) South Africa 0:THOSE WHO shell out for the privilege of being there might crave something more of a game but oh, how Giovanni Trapattoni would settle for next month's big game with Italy going along the same lines as this narrow win at Thomond Park.
Of course, it will be an almost completely different cast of Irish players taking on more ruthless opposition, but if the manager was offered the prospect of his side winning a game they were largely second best in thanks to a superb Liam Lawrence free-kick, then he would surely grab it with both hands.
Lawrence’s goal was sent sweetly to the top left corner from 25 metres out eight minutes before the break, but the South Africans must have wondered how they lost after they had enjoyed the bulk of possession and a clear majority of the half-chances over the course of the game.
Their hosts did little but look to get men behind the ball and contain their opponents for the 10 minutes Caleb Folan had been off the pitch receiving four stitches to a head wound after Trapattoni had pointedly declined to replace him.
Even when they had their full complement on the pitch they showed a tendency to fall back to the edge of their area and beyond until the South Africans found it almost impossible to go any further simply by virtue of the density with which the green shirts were packed together.
Inevitably, it made getting bodies forward that much more difficult which was a pity because the hugely fluid approach adopted by Joel Santana’s side, as they sought to attack, meant that gaps were routinely left at the back and on the flanks.
As had been the case here last month an Everton player was at the heart of most of Ireland’s difficulties with Steven Pienaar for the first hour or so starting just behind his team’s lone striker, Katlego Mphela, but then dropping deep and darting about in a fairly tireless attempt to involve himself in everything the South Africans attempted once inside the Irish half.
Three or four times Pienaar tried to create space for team-mates and then release them into it, but the tightly-packed Irish defence held steady with the two full-backs, particularly Stephen Kelly, scurrying across to provide cover on a couple of key occasions.
Eddie Nolan looked better going forward when the chances arose and very early on the Preston left-back did especially well to get past his opposite number and turn a low-angled ball into the heart of the South African box. Keith Andrews was on the receiving end but the midfielder’s first touch let him down and the chance quickly evaporated.
Their lack of width generally was, so to speak, a thorn in the Irish team’s side and there were again times when, in part because there was little by way of a midfield to play the ball through, they aimed high and long at their strikers, particularly Folan.
The Hull City striker had a good shout for a penalty early on when Tsepo Masilela’s header towards his own keeper lacked power and Morgan Gould stepped to curtail the Irishman’s run with a challenge that was part shoulder charge, part body-check with, inadvertently, a touch of head-butt thrown in.
Aaron Moloena was obliged to check Andy Keogh out on the flank later in the first half too and, for his trouble, picked up his side’s second booking of the night, a fairly remarkable tally at that stage given the decidedly low -octane nature of the contest.
Lawrence’s fine strike had given the Irish the lead almost completely against the run of play but they looked intent for spells after the break on building on the advantage as the midfield pushed on a bit and they started to string together a few attacks based on passing play.
The best of them fell to Lawrence after Leon Best, a replacement for Kevin Doyle an hour in, had his shot blocked down and the ensuing scramble ended with the Stoke City midfielder firing narrowly wide of the left-hand post from 12 yards after the ball deflected off a defender’s hand. And late on there was a bright spell too with Best twice forcing the South African goalkeeper into action with decent strikes.
For the most part, though, the action continued to be at the other half of the pitch where the arrival of Siphiwe Tshabalala added further energy and ingenuity to the South African attack even if there was never quite enough of the latter to engineer a breakthrough.
Keiren Westwood, in fact, had remarkably little to do as his defence, sometimes under a fair bit of pressure, generally played their way out of trouble well with Sean St Ledger and Paul McShane coping well enough before the night’s only debutant, Darren O’Dea, arrived on to make a more than satisfactory, if less than spectacular, first appearance for his country.
For the 11,300 (the lowest crowd since Wales played in Tolka Park 16 years ago when 9,500 showed up) who turned out to see it, the game was also more satisfactory than spectacular.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND:Westwood (Coventry City); Kelly (Fulham), McShane (Hull City), St Ledger (Preston North End), Nolan (Preston North End); Lawrence (Stoke City), Gibson (Manchester Utd), Andrews (Blackburn Rovers), Keogh (Wolves); Folan (Hull City), Doyle (Wolves). Subs:Best (Coventry City) for Doyle (59 mins), O'Dea (Reading) for McShane (62 mins), Duff (Fulham) for Keogh (78 mins).
SOUTH AFRICA:Fernandez; Gaxa, Mokoena, Gould, Masilela; Van Heerden, Dikgacoi, Mhlongo, Parker; Pienaar; Mphela. Subs:Khenyeza for Van Heerden (60 mins), Tshabalala for Parker (64 mins), Henyekane for Mphela (74 mins), Thwala for Masilela (78 mins), Ngobeni for Dikgacoi (81 mins).
Referee:Craig Thomson (Scotland).
