Nations League: Israel 0 Republic of Ireland 3 (Parrott 13, Idah 16, Moylan 25)
Here is the match report from Gavin Cummiskey from Debrecen:
Here is the TV View from Mary Hannigan
Full-time: Ireland 3 Israel 0.
After a tumultuous week, this was a very straightforward assignment in the end for Ireland. Israel posed no threat, Ireland were the far superior football team. What the fall-out will be from it all remains to be seen. Austria are next up in the Aviva on Thursday. Protests feel more or less certain.
The Ireland manager runs the bench, with Rocco Vata on for his second cap and Joel Bagan on for his first. Just a couple of minutes left here.
Ireland are easing home here. Killian Phillips, Tom Cannon and Jason Knight are on for Moylan, Idah and Abankwah. With 15 minutes left, Israel are reduced to potshots. Kelleher has been equal to them all.
Chances for both sides. Kelleher saves again from distance to preserve the Irish clean sheet, before Idah misses a decent chance from a header at the other end. The centre-forward got up well but his header was just over the bar. Coming up on the hour mark and that would have killed the game entirely.
Second half underway. No change for Ireland, Israel make one in midfield, with Dor Peretz on for Mizrahi. Peretz has a chance with one of his first touches but Kelleher is equal to it.
Half-time: Ireland 3 Israel 0
After all the build-up, the match itself has been entirely one-sided. Goals from Troy Parrott, Adam Idah and Jack Moylan mean a 3-0 lead for Ireland. They’ve been far stronger, quicker to the ball and clinical in their finishing.
Approaching half-time here and Ireland are comfortable. Kelleher has had virtually nothing to do. If there’s going to be another goal, it feels more likely to come at the Israeli end.
Moylan celebrated by taking off his black armband, kissing it and grabbing the Ireland crest on his jersey in front of the Israel fans.
Make that three. Jack Moylan has done this all by himself, latching onto a Parrott knockdown and streaking through to slide his finish under the Israel goalie. Ireland 3 Israel 0
And there’s a second. It’s Adam Idah this time, sprinting onto a Jack Moylan through ball and the Cork striker finished low to the bottom corner. Ireland 2 Israel 0
Goal for Ireland, out of nothing really. Molumby got in behind down the right and when his cross deflected back to James Abankwah, the wing-back fed Tory Parrott and he did his Troy Parrott thing. Ireland 1 Israel 0
Little enough happening footballwise, for what it’s worth. Ireland had a brief flurry in the early minutes but a Jayson Molumby sighter was the closest they came. Israel have a spell of pressure here but aren’t making any real inroads.
Alan Shatter has turned up in the press box. Accredited by the Jerusalem Post.
No handshakes, no pennant exchange. Dara O’Shea stood with his hands behind his back at the coin toss. Straight on with the game.
Completely surreal listening to the world feed commentary studiously avoid any mention of the controversy around the game. Talking about both teams needing the points after losing their opening games against Kosovo and Austria. Not a word about the virtually empty stadium or Ireland’s black armbands or anything at all beyond the football of it all.
The teams are in the tunnel.
On the football side of things, Hallgrímsson has completely overhauled the side here. Five changes is a massive departure, and you’d have to guess it’s influenced by more than just the poor performance on Thursday. Out go a quintet of stalwarts - Liam Scales, John Egan, Finn Azaz, Jason Knight and Chiedozie Ogbene. In come Liam Kitching (his debut), Jack Moylan, Conor Coventry, Ryan Manning and Adam Idah.
Gavin Cummiskey: “Ireland team runs out to whistles and boos from a few dozen Israeli fans. There are more ball boys than supporters here.”
Heimir Hallgrímsson has been talking to Tony O’Donoghue on the RTE News...
“It’s been one of the most challenging weeks for me as a coach and I guess it’s the same for most of the players. These are situations we have not been in before. So when we are in those positions, we hope we take more right decisions than wrong. But you never get everything correct.
“So that’s been tough. I feel for the players, mostly. A lot of young players in this squad that we need to take good care of and honestly, there’s a lot of players that have mixed motions for this game and it’s our job to try to protect all of them...
“It’s tricky. It’s kind of like I’ve said before… you will always have things objected [to] from one side or the other. And it’s kind of whatever you do, there’s always going to be people that are against it. So like I said, it’s just a situation where it’s difficult to get all the things right.
“But the game is going to be played and it’s my job to try to think about football. And that’s tough when all the questions and all the talks and all the problems are around everything else than football.”
The Ireland team has been named.
Rep of Ireland (v Israel): Kelleher; Manning, Kitching, O’Shea, O’Brien, Abankwah; Molumby, Coventry; Moylan, Idah, Parrott.
Subs: O’Leary, Egan, Scales, Dunne, Bagan, Phillips, Knight, Ogbene, Vata, Azaz, Cannon, Elding.
The Ireland players and staff have arrived at the Nagyerdei Stadium, Irish Times writer Gavin Cooney informs us. Not usually the kind of mundane detail we’d be including in a blog on the day of an Ireland international match but given all the twists and turns that have led us here, it’s probably worth passing along.
Gavin Cummiskey has sent the following update from the ground in Debrecen, regarding Gavin Bazunu’s availability for next week’s game against Austria...
Gavin Bazunu is available for selection when the Republic of Ireland play Austria at the Aviva Stadium next Thursday.
The Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper announced on Saturday that he feels it would be wrong to participate in the upcoming fixtures against Israel, in Debrecen tonight or the behind-closed-doors match in the Serbian town of Bačka Topola on October 4th. But it is understood that he has made himself available for Thursday’s game, sandwiched between the two Israel matches.
“My decision is based purely upon my personal belief that the killing of innocent people is wrong,” the 24 year old posted on Instagram.
QPR defender Jimmy Dunne has been temporarily named as an Ireland goalkeeper behind Caoimhín Kelleher and Max O’Leary. The Nations League rules state that match day squads must have three goalies.
When the FAI communications department was asked to confirm if Heimir Hallgrímsson will consider Bazunu for the Austria game, it was indicated that the Ireland manager would address the player’s availability following tonight’s game.
Hallgrímsson said yesterday that he did not talk to Bazunu about the Israel ties before naming him in the 26-man squad last week and the Irish Times understands that nobody from the FAI or team management mentioned the issue to the Dubliner.
Yesterday was a day of high tension in Debrecen, beginning with Bazunu’s decision to pull out of the tie early in the morning. There followed hours of confusion and rancour and, for the journalists on the ground, a day-long search for clarity. Gavin Cooney’s account of an ill-starred 24 hours for the national team, the FAI and everyone involved with the whole sorry saga is worth your time.
Here’s where we are. The situation has remained largely unchanged since last night, the only concrete development today being the naming this morning of QPR defender Jimmy Dunne as Ireland’s third goalkeeper for the game. This is purely a piece of admin – Uefa matchday statutes decree that all international teams name three goalkeepers in their matchday squad.
And so with Gavin Bazunu refusing to play, Dunne will be the nominal back-up to Max O’Leary, who is the back-up to Caoimhín Kelleher. Dunne for Bazunu is the only change in the 23 from the Kosovo game.
After what must rank as the most dramatic day in Irish football since Saipan, tonight’s Nations League game between Ireland and Israel looks set to go ahead. Kick-off is set for Debrecen, Hungary at 7.45pm Irish time. We will keep you updated with any and all developments over the next few hours and during the game itself.
