Norway expose plenty of cracks in Ireland's reconstruction work

SOCCER FRIENDLY INTERNATIONAL: Rep of Ireland 1 Norway 2: THREE MONTHS after moving back into the place, the Aviva Stadium is proving to be a somewhat poorly-manned and all too vulnerable fortress for Giovanni Trapattoni's men, who in front a crowd of just 30,068 last night lost the third of four games at the venue since its celebrated opening.

Trapattoni, of course, was supposed to use this game as a foundation for some future reconstruction of his own, but it’s hard to imagine he would do too much tinkering with his established line-up on the basis of this performance.

Shane Long, rewarded at the end with the man-of-the-match award, certainly underlined the improvement he showed when coming on against Russia last month, but the manager is unlikely to view the defending as the basis for a shake-up of his back four.

The Norwegians didn’t exactly lay siege to the Irish goal but when they did threaten it, especially on the break, the home side generally coped poorly and none of those who were involved in the neat goal on the break with which Erik Huseklepp nicked the win for the visitors two minutes from time are likely to enjoy the replays.

Norway might have won their three most recent qualifying games but they were beaten in Zagreb last month and to judge by the way they started the game here, it seemed they would suffer a similar fate.

Not that the Republic of Ireland were great early on either, but then they didn’t really have to be. After less than six minutes they were in front thanks to Long who, having been awarded a penalty following a tangle with Brede Hangeland that looked to be at least as much his doing as the defender’s, picked himself up without once letting go of the ball and confidently despatched the spot kick to the bottom left corner.

If there was a hint of luck about it all though, Egil Olsen’s men were still a little fortunate not to fall further behind during the spell that followed.

Ireland’s finishing was poor enough with Keith Fahey missing the target with a mid-range volley; Liam Lawrence missing the ball when attempting a left-footed shot on the turn from a good position and Glenn Whelan a fair way off when trying to lob Jon Knudsen from a long way out.

Quite how the Irish didn’t capitalise on their best chance, though, must have mystified the management team with an impressive build-up that involved Kevin Doyle and Liam Lawrence ending with a cross that looked likely to fall nicely into Long’s path. Knudsen, though, got a touch that diverted the ball behind the striker only for Damien Duff to make life a little too easy for the goalkeeper with his follow-up shot.

Long was the outstanding home player on the night with the Reading striker a constant thorn in the side of the Norwegian back four.

Behind him, Fahey made a modest enough impact, never really doing much wrong but failing at the same time to exert the sort of control he probably would have had to in order to have had any real chance of prompting a rethink by the manager in relation to his regular approach to central midfield.

Further back again, Greg Cunningham was quietly impressive for stretches but got caught a little too far forward as Norway broke more than once.

He certainly underlined the fact that he can pass and cross a ball, but he looked pretty helpless as he was beaten in the early part of the build-up that paved the way for the Norwegian winner.

In the centre, Darren O’Dea had a mixed night too, looking decent when Ireland had the ball and passed it out of defence. However, he was a little less on top of things when put under pressure by opponents.

Most of what passed for pressure on Shay Given’s goal over the course of the opening half-hour was the product of long and powerful throw-ins by John Arne Riise, but Hangeland made more than one failed attempt to string a low ball through to Morten Gamst Pedersen and when he finally managed it, the midfielder laid it off to Thorstein Helstad with his first touch and Stephen Kelly ended up conceding a free for handball after challenging the lone striker on the edge of the area in the 34th minute.

It was nicely located for Pedersen, who curled it superbly past Given, who was making a record 109th appearance for his country.

During a second half that was open enough to be exciting at times, either side might have added to the scoreline with Given a little lucky to get away with wandering into no-man’s land as Huseklepp raced clear of a couple of chasing defenders under a long, high ball only to go for power rather than a little more lift at the vital moment.

The bulk of the better chances came at the other end though, where, having made one good save from McGeady not long after the break and another 10 minutes later from Long, substitute goalkeeper Espen Bugge Pettersen generally looked a little less assured.

McGeady was lively on the right and Long continued to cause plenty of problems, whether roaming out wide in search of possession and space or bearing down on an overly ponderous defender, while Jonathan Walters put himself about well enough after coming on and did well to meet the Moscow-based midfielder’s angled drive which he almost turned home with his groin. However, he was flagged for offside.

Ultimately though, Ireland couldn’t convert and they were to be undone with two minutes remaining by Huseklepp’s fine goal on the break with the 26-year-old turning Perdersen’s cross in from beyond Given, Kelly and the right-hand post after Kevin Foley had failed to cut out the low cross.

Neither Séamus Coleman nor Marc Wilson, as it happens, got the chance to show what they could have contributed at the back but it is unimaginable now that they could be left sitting around when Wales come to town in February.

Trapattoni clearly has some thinking to do between now and then. And so do the FAI whose confidence in this side’s ability to draw the sort of crowds it has been banking on to pay for its share of the stadium costs has taken a big battering.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Given (Manchester city); Kelly (Fulham), O'Shea (Manchester United), O'Dea (Ipswich Town), Cunningham (Leicester City); Lawrence (Portsmouth), Fahey (Birmingham City), Whelan (Stoke City), Duff (Fulham); Long (Reading), Doyle (Wolves). Subs: Joanthan Walters (Stoke City) for Doyle and Aiden McGeady (Spartak Moscow) for Lawrence (both half-time), Kevin Foley (Wolves) for O'Dea (67 mins), Stephen Hunt (Wolves) for Duff (74 mins).

NORWAY: Knudsen (Stabæk); Høgli (Tromsø), Wæhler (AaB), Hangeland (Fulham), JA Riise (Roma); Hauger (Stabæk); Huseklepp (Brann), Moen (Brann), Grindheim (Heerenveen), Pedersen (Blackburn); Helstad (Le Mans). Subs: Pettersen (Molde) for Knudsen and BH Riise (Fulham) for Helstad (both half-time), Jenssen (Tromsø) for Huseklepp (55 mins), Hæstad (Vålgarenga) (78 mins), Moldskred (Rosenborg) for Huseklepp (90 mins).

Referee: Kristinn Jakobsson (Iceland).