AN ALL TOO FAMILIAR FEELING This team has gone almost 400 minutes without a goal
Ireland sign off with a point in Denmark but the huff and puff sums up poor year
ANOTHER nil-all draw with Denmark after a backsto-the-wall Ireland performance built on grit, raw courage and a hint of good fortune. Sounds familiar?
This could have been a replica of the World Cup play-off duel in Copenhagen 12 months ago. The night was again chilly, the pitch was bumpy, and Ireland spent most of the night getting bodies behind the ball.
Once again, the thin white line held as the Danes were unable to make the most of their dominance and pierce a hole in the rugged Ireland rear-guard.
For embattled manager Martin O’Neill, it offered some respite as an uninspiring international year drew to a close but let no one think for a moment that this marks the end of his troubles.
The Danes had nothing to play for, having secured promotion to League A and they were shorn of several A-listers. While their star man, Christian Eriksen started, he didn’t exert himself unduly and was withdrawn at half-time — unscathed, no doubt to the relief of Tottenham boss Maurizio Pochettino.
Ireland, for all their sweat and toil, managed one shot on goal in the entire game, a free-kick from Robbie Brady into the side netting. Denmark managed a whopping 25 attempts. In terms of possession, they kept the ball from thier hosts for a measily 30 per cent of the time. In fact, in these two November games, Ireland have managed just one effort on target; creativity is clearly a major problem.
Late on, O’Neill gave Michael Obafemi 10 minutes of action mak- ing the teenage Southampton striker the 12th player to be capped by the manager this year.
Maybe he will apply some balm, as this team has gone almost 400 minutes without a goal.
Positives? Hmm. As a wee plus, the two draws against Denmark may help towards the play-offs for Euro finals in March 2020 — at least Ireland are above Northern Ireland in the Nations League standings.
Ahead of the qualifying draw in Dublin on Sunday week, it is not just O’Neill who is facing flak right now.
There were calls from the hardy knot of visiting fans in Ceres Park last night for John Delaney, the long-serving FAI chief executive, to leave his post while, beforehand, an anti-Delaney banner was confiscated by FAI staff outside the ground.
For all the talk that O’Neill is fighting to make the best of what he has, there are those who see a bigger picture. His selection inferred caution as he stuck with 3-5-2 and also played a full-back, Cyrus Christie, in midfield where he looked out of place and was later booked.
Again, Harry Arter was marked absent from the trenches and the Premier League regular must be wondering how he has fallen so far out of favour.
Just as he might have gotten close to Steven Davis last Thursday so he might have kept tabs on Lasse Schone last night as the bearded Ajax midfielder ran the show.
On a soft pitch, which cut up a lot, there were echoes of the Parken Stadium last November, only the night (the stadium was half full) lacked the intensity of a World Cup play-off. There was a sombre moment before kick-off as a minute’s silence was observed for travelling fan David Clerkin from Drogheda, who passed away in Copenhagen on his way to the match.
Ireland lined out in with a bank of five defenders, behind four midfielders with Aiden O’Brien as the lone ranger in attack. The Millwall man ran around a lot but didn’t affect the play as much as O’Neill would have liked.
In the early stages, there were flickers of encouragement as Enda Stevens dashed into the Danish penalty box while Seamus Coleman, from the other side, followed up a few minutes later after decent foraging by O’Brien.
But mostly the visitors were on the back foot, repelling the red waves which swarmed towards Darren Randolph in the Ireland goal.
Stevens survived a penalty appeal against him as Ireland took the hits for the team, literally. In one passage of play, Jeff Hendrick and Shane Duffy stood tall as the ball cannoned into them. Neither went down to take a count.
Ireland may have retreated to the edge of the penalty area, but they dealt energetically and courageously with balls lofted into the box — food and drink for a team with three strapping six-footers at the back.
As the Danes sought to prise their way through the Ireland ranks on the deck, the surface counted against their passing game, but they should have scored in the 40th minute.
A flowing move, involving Eriksen inevitably, teed up right-back Peter Ankersen, whose inviting cross was touched away by Randolph at full stretch.
As Nicolai Jorgensen swooped on the rebound, a goal seemed imminent, but the contact was less than convincing and Coleman, covering quickly, got across to block.
Soon after, Eriksen, slightly built but packing a powerful punch, sent a vicious free-kick whistling inches over the bar with Randolph struggling as Ireland held on.
The traffic was even more oneway in the second half as Ireland put bodies on the line and tackled feverishly. There was no lack of resilience but they rode their luck too.
Yussuf Poulsen hooked over from six yards out, and there was another scare when Richard Keogh was caught napping by Nicolai Jorgensen who sucked Randolph from goal only to clip his right-foot effort against an the upright.