We’ve been drowning in footballing gloom and doom of late, there not been a whole heap to cheer, but at least the calendar offered a potential tonic on this particular day.
As one era was about to come to a close in Dublin, we got to feel decidedly chipper about the future while watching the under-21s beating Italy in Cork. Until they conceded an equaliser in the sixth minute of added time. “Heartbreaking stuff,” as Kenny Cunningham groaned, the footballing Gods by now taking the Mick.
But look-it, based on the progress of those young fellas, there have to be brighter days ahead, it’s just the present that we’ve been having some bother with.
The assumption, of course, was that this outing in Dublin would be Stephen Kenny’s last in charge of the senior team, white smoke will billow from the FAI’s chimney soon enough. Some creative thinking could see Vera Pauw take over the lads and Kenny the lasses, but that might be stretching the definition of creativity.
Shamrock Rovers’ European adventure one of the best stories of the Irish sporting year
QPR’s Jimmy Dunne finds solace in football after emotional week
Is there anything good about the 2034 World Cup going to Saudi Arabia?
Ken Early on World Cup draw: Ireland face task to overcome Hungary, their football opposites
So, while this could prove to be Kenny’s farewell, it was definitely James McClean’s last hurrah in an Irish shirt, him having announced his retirement from international football in advance of winning his 103rd and final cap.
Shay Given, on RTÉ punditry duty, paid a moving tribute to the Derry man. “I didn’t think he’d get 10 caps after his first few games.”
For all the talk of 41,000 tickets being sold for the game, the stadium was pockmarked with empty seats as the teams emerged, nothing signalling disillusionment more than folk failing to turn up having dished out some hard-earned loot for the right to attend.
Divil a Haka either to entertain those hardy enough to make their way to the place, their minds melded by the All Blacks appearing in All White, while Ireland were in All Black.
Ireland huffed and puffed, rucked and mauled, as they’ve tended to do in recent times, until Adam Idah finally inserted the ball in the net after 28 minutes. The “phew” from Ray Houghton registered around 7.8 on the Richter scale.
Shay and Kevin Doyle, while relieved that Ireland had got over the try line, were quite rude about the visitors come the break. “There’s nothing worse than watching a bad team trying to play good football,” said Kevin. “Aye,” Shay agreed, “everyone thinks they’re Man City and can play out through the lines.”
You insult your opponents at your peril. An hour on the clock and Matthew Garbett went and equalised, as if our sporting nation hasn’t suffered enough at the hands of Kiwis this year.
And if you weren’t dewy-eyed enough, McClean was taken off soon after the hour mark, giving a hefty hug to Evan Ferguson as he departed the international scene. Baton passed. If Ferguson gives us service as mighty as McClean delivered, we’ll be grand.
Not yet, though, the only relief for Kenny in that second half was the fact that RTE had given Didi Hamann the night off. More huffing and puffing, more rucking and mauling, but no joy.
You don’t, of course, want to be as rude as Shay and Kevin, but when you can’t beat the All Whites in Dublin, a team ranked behind Mauritania in the Fifa list - Mauritania! - you’re in a whole world of bother.
“Twenty-nine games and you’ve only won six, they’re the facts and that’s the reason he needs to move on,” said Ray.
So, yet another night we’ll try hard to erase from the memory bank. An end of an era? Probably. Fair winds to Stephen Kenny, he gave it everything he had and more, a good and decent man who had the misfortune to take the helm at a time when his raw material was just way too raw.
He’d be entitled to conclude that he was short luck along the way. Like the footballing Gods were taking the Mick. It is a cruel auld game.
