McCarthy steps lightly towards the East

Springtime and there is an appropriate lightness in Mick McCarthy's step as he turns towards the east.

His team make no claims to being world-beaters but they have a pattern, a solid record and an aura of constant growth around them. Last night they found themselves in the surprisingly low-voltage company of the Danes and dispatched them with three goals, each of which was an aesthetic pleasure in its own way. Happy the side which can afford such luxury.

Afterwards McCarthy came to the familiar precinct of the bandroom and whistled a happy tune. Why not? The work is progressing nicely and his most pressing headache right now is whether to infuse his side with more lithe youth or to stick with older more stolid talents. Lee Carsley or Colin Healy and so on.

"It was a convincing three-nil win," he said, "fully deserved, a good team performance. Good goals. I'm delighted with Robbie and Clinton. People have been making a bit about Robbie not scoring, you know he plays well but failed to score sort of thing.

"So I'm glad he got what he deserved. Clinton had a terrific game, but if at the end he hadn't scored there'd be a question mark. So it was terrific. I'm delighted for the two of them."

And Keane and Morrison sitting either side of their manager beamed down on us, a goofy trinity of smiles.

There is a sweet precocity at the edge of Irish performances these days. Damien Duff has shed the early tentativeness which he wore along with his green jersey and now he gambols happily among the switch blade tackles.

Clinton Morrison has brought a happy coiled energy to the business end of the field and both Colin Healy and Steven Reid look like men about to rapidly ascend a great hill.

Duff, having established credentials as a striker, will have severely discomfited Kevin Kilbane last night with his impossibly fluent display down the left wing.

Robbie Keane rated Duff along with the Giggs' and the Kewells'. McCarthy, from whom such compliments flow easily, has to worry only about how to use Duff in the near future.

"Players come and do well in various positions. Damien has been excellent up front. Tonight he was outstanding on the left and Robbie and Clinton were good tonight. I have to consider it. Duffer's performacne tonight was excellent. Quinny sitting on the bench said he was the first player to win man of match after three minutes. Terrific.

"I suppose it means that Damien won't be a surprise package in Japan . They paid arttention to him this evening, but he was still unstoppable. If you leave him one versus one he'll kill you, he can do damage anyway. We keep saying on the bench give it to Duffer and he's knackered.!"

And Colin Healy. Surely cancelling any other plans he had for the summer? McCarthy's verdict was short and sweet.

"Colin has impressed me from the day he walked into training for the last game."

What of Robbie Keane We came to Lansdowne last night expecting to see him grown lardy and slow from weeks of redundancy at Leeds. Instead he had the pace and confidence and trickery which first caught our eye a couple of years ago.

Perhaps McCarthy's claim that Keane's unemployed status might be no harm for Ireland's chances suddenly didn't look so far fetched.

"Quinny sitting on the bench said he was the first player to win man of match after three minutes. Terrific."

- McCarthy on Duff

"The team created chances for the two lads up front and they worked hard at the end of them. It was a it of a surprise when Robbie unleashed that bomb. I didn't want him to have another night where the verdict is he played well but didn't score.

"These guys, Clinton and Robbie, they are strikers, they thrive on scoring, so when they score I'm happy."

The centre of defence may not yet have acquired the necessary blue-chip reliability, but there is a sense that last night's partnership might be the one McCarthy goes to war with. Staunton and Cunningham want for swiftness but so do the rest of the contenders. Wisdom may be our best option.

Last night, though, was no evening for testing the outer limits of our defensive capabilities. The Danes seemed oddly dulled.

"If Denmark were disappointing it's because of the performance of my team." said McCarthy. "I deal with how we played. We made a tough looking game not quite so difficult. I was pleased with us. Not worried about the Danes"

You think all this and Roy Keane, too. In reality the arguments about the panel are almost over. McCarthy says the men he brings with him to Sunderland in May will be the ones he will bring to Japan.

So the game against the US next month is the final chance for fringe talent . Mick McCarthy doesn't look like a man who'll be doing too much tossing and turning between now and then.