Murphy has Irish eyeing a final push
GIVEN that Ireland needed a late flourish to rescue victory in Moldova 12 months ago, this was comfortable by comparison, and so it should have been.
In Wales on Monday night, however, Martin O’Neill and his side will be out of their comfort zone, for they need to go away from home and win — nothing less will do if they are to make the play- offs for Russia. There remains a slim chance that Ireland or second-place Wales could even top Group D.
Caution has been O’Neill’s default setting with this limited group of players but in Cardiff he must set up for victory against a team ranked 21 places higher in FIFA’s order.
Achieve that win and the timing of O’Neill’s decision to announce a two-year contract extension on the eve of this game will look shrewd and rallying. Fail and he faces the prospect of seeing out the next 11 months of his new deal playing friendly matches.
It won’t be friendly against the Welsh, that is for certain. During the reverse fixture, a 0-0 draw here in March, Ireland captain Seamus Coleman suffered a sickening double leg-break following a horror challenge from Neil Taylor, who is in the Wales squad for Monday. That will give the Irish added motivation, not that they should need it.
What they do need is a striker such as Daryl Murphy on his game as he was here. It took the 34-year-old 23 appearances to score his first goal for his country and that strike against Serbia a year ago remained his sole effort until last night.
Within two minutes he had doubled his international tally, applying an instinctive volleyed finish after Shane Duffy helped on Stephen Ward’s long throw.
The Nottingham Forest front man has six goals for his club this season and that confidence showed in the manner of his second on 19 minutes, steering a looping header into the far corner from Ward’s centre.
If Murphy looked like scoring every time he touched the ball then the same could not be said of his partner. Shane Long has not netted since February and a trio of chances to break that duck came and went before the hour mark.
First he side-footed wide from 12 yards — it was easier to score — before he blasted straight at the goalkeeper after being played in on goal by Burnley’s Jeff Hendrick.
But the easiest opening saw Long stab wide of an open goal after halftime. The excellent Wes Hoolahan had been the architect of that offensive, as he was for much of the night, which ended in Moldova’s Alexandru Gatcan being sent off for butting Harry Arter.
Ultimately, Long’s profligacy mattered not, but it will in Cardiff. In fact, everything matters in Cardiff.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (4-1-3-2): Randolph 7; Christie 6.5, Clark 6, Duffy 6.5, Ward 7; Meyler 6; Hendrick 6.5, Hoolahan 7.5 (McGeady 78min, 6), O’Dowda 7; Long 5 (Maguire 83), MURPHY 8 (Arter 78, 6). Scorers: Murphy 2, 19. Booked: Arter. Manager: Martin O’Neill 7. MOLDOVA (4-1-4-1): Cebanu 5; Bordian 5, Racu 5, Epureanu 5, Rozgoniuc 5; Anton 5; Platica 6 (Ambrosat 79), Gatcan 6, Ionita 5, Dedov 5 (Cociuc 55, 5); Ginsari 5 Booked: Rozgoniuc. Sent off: Gatcan.
Manager: Igor Dobrovolski 5. Referee: Bas Nijhuis (Holl) 7 Attendance: 52,000.