One goal in eight hours for dreary Irish

THE Republic of Ireland: finding new ways not to score since 2016. Martin O’Neill liked to play on the break, pace in behind. His side went nowhere fast. Mick McCarthy loved crosses into the box. Noughts and crosses just about sums up that plan. And the new man, Stephen Kenny, is all about possession. That is looking more like nine-tenths of the bore on the evidence of three games without a goal in the past week. In four years under the management of the abovementioned trio, Ireland have scored just 17 times in 26 competitive games. Under Kenny, it is one goal in eight hours. The natives are encouraged by Kenny’s start, and you understand why, with a shift towards a more attractive style. But unless Kenny works out how to score a goal it will soon look pretty ugly, as his predecessors discovered. Ireland are heading for the third tier of the Nations League after this defeat. Perhaps opposition such as Albania, Armenia and Azerbaijan will prove easier to crack. Because opponents such as Finland — ranked 56th in the world — are too difficult for them to break down right now. That is a pair of 1-0 victories for the Finns over Ireland in just over a month. This one was achieved when Ireland goalkeeper Darren Randolph’s short goal-kick was intercepted and Teemu Pukki crossed for Fredrik Jensen to score on 66 minutes. And one goal was enough. It usually is against Ireland. REP OF IRELAND (4-2-3-1): Randolph; Doherty, Duffy, O’Shea, Stevens; Molumby (Knight 83min), Hourihane; Horgan (Curtis 75), Hendrick (Idah 75), Connolly; Maguire (Brady 53). Subs not used: Travers, K Long, S Long, Cullen, Kelleher, Manning, Christie.