WILSON PICK IT OUT!
Harry’s heroics music to Welsh ears but hosts walk off to chorus of boos in Dublin
WALES had won just three competitive games in 12 years without Gareth Bale before this.
In that time, they had never been without both the Real Madrid ace and Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey in a game with something more than pride at stake.
So what ought to have been a game changer for Ireland turned into a giant stick to beat a manager clinging to his job.
John Delaney celebrated his 51st birthday at the Aviva Stadium last night. Once the celebrations die down, the FAI chief (right, with Shane Ross TD) will have plenty to ponder.
For neutrals channel surfing around Europe and stumbling across this game, there wasn’t a great deal in the first-half to entice them.
But for those closer to home, and well conditioned to these hard-to-stomach nights, it actually wasn’t ‘that’ awful.
Ireland refused to fold after Harry Wilson curled home a peach of a free-kick just before the hour that Bale himself would be proud of.
And they kept on fighting in pursuit of a goal and had the Aviva crowd on its feet, screaming them on…and all to salvage a draw.
And therein lies the problem for an Irish team that has forgotten how to win.
Wales fans taunted O’neill with chants of ‘Sacked in the morning’ and then Roy Keane with ‘Keano, Keano what’s the score’.
After the drubbing in Cardiff, O’neill had said: “We have to win our home games for a start and give ourselves a chance.”
Well, one point from six in this double-header is a dire return. Only a Wales win over Denmark next month and a convincing Irish victory in Aarhus will spare relegation.
But Ireland have not been capable of scoring, never mind winning with plenty in hand. Relegation will ensure thirdseed status for December’s Euro 2020 draw.
Ireland looked decent at times and played more football in the opening 20 minutes than they did throughout Saturday’s dire draw with Denmark. The shake-up in the starting XI provided the spark.
Shane Long and the injured Callum O’dowda made way for Callum Robinson and Aiden O’brien, who had scored on his debut in Poland last month.
Not everything they tried came off, but they gave it a go for the hour they played.
Fans warmed to their intent with Long then replacing O’brien early in the second-half and Sean Maguire soon after for Preston pal Robinson, much to the bewilderment of many.
But it helped that Ireland had two men up top rather than Long doing his nut on a solo mission as per usual.
O’neill bemoans the lack of a Robbie Keane in his ranks and goals have been of short supply. And time will tell if Robinson and O’brien are up to the task long term but you won’t know until you play them and Robinson in particular
looked a threat. In the preliminaries, O’neill urged his players to play off the front foot. They had no choice really.
But Robinson – with five goals in his last eight club games – was the beating heart of the team for an hour.
He would have tested Wayne Hennessey just before the break had Matthew Smith not bravely blocked down his vicious, crisply struck drive from the edge of the area.
Early on, he cleverly slipped in Matt Doherty and the Wolves wing-back fed O’brien whose effort was snuffed out.
But it offered hope and Cyrus Christie ought to have opened the scoring soon after. Smith lost control of a soft pass out of defence and the Fulham man – again deployed in midfield – pounced.
He evaded Smith’s lunge and, through on Hennessey, fired first time and brought a save when a more patient approach might have paid dividends.
Centre-back Shane Duffy, so often Ireland’s most attacking outlet, teased the Crystal Palace keeper with a header while Tyler Roberts never troubled Randolph with a deft flick down the other end. But the Dragon was only sleeping.
Harry Arter is not a dependable shield in front of defenders but you can rely on him to concede needless free-kicks
And he did so, right on the box, when slicing Connor Roberts down to size.
Up stepped Wilson for gamewinning moment of magic. But it jolted Ireland into life and Hendrick roused the crowd with a drive at Hennessey.
Maguire and Scott Hogan closed out the game in attack and Mcclean peppered Hennessey with a swinging scissors kick at the death.
It was all to no avail. The booing was brief and halfhearted from weary fans who have had to grow accustomed to nights like this.
There is little to suggest their mood will change, unless change itself is made.