No fine this time for Welsh wizard Wilson as practice pays off
HARRY Wilson curled home a stunning free-kick as Ryan Giggs’ understudies made light of the absence of Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey to deepen the Republic of Ireland’s woes.
The Derby winger left keeper Darren Randolph rooted to the spot as his 58th-minute strike secured a 1-0 Nations League victory for Wales.
The result piled the pressure on Ireland boss Martin O’Neill amid boos on the final whistle at the Aviva Stadium.
Wales manager Giggs told Sky Sports: “I’m so proud – they dug in right to the end. It was a really brilliant second-half performance.
“We were led by the captain. Ashley Williams was outstanding for 90 minutes.
“He defended, did the hard stuff which gave us the platform to go on. Harry Wilson, I fined him for the goal at Old Trafford a few weeks ago, I won’t be tonight! He does it all the time in training: it’s practice, practice, practice.
“We set out to win the group. It’s a tough group and now it is in our hands.”
Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill said: “I felt we should have scored early on, and we are not renowned for scoring a lot of goals so we need to take our chances.
“They have a great spirit, we lack a little bit of technical ability.
“We have spirit in abundance but that won’t take you everywhere. We need to be more creative if we can.”