Walters at the double to banish Bosnia
Scots left all alone as Republic clinch finals place with the help of contentious penalty
AND so Scotland will be very much left home alone next summer as the Republic of Ireland joined England, Wales and Northern Ireland at Euro 2016. It’s a sorry state of affairs, indeed.
Yet, while the Scots may be left cursing their luck or their inability to make the most of a generous qualification process — Ireland finished third in their group, after all — the home side perhaps sensed a little justice in their victory last night.
It has been six years since that controversial Thierry Henry handball and it appears they have finally received some payback.
Knowing that victory in front of a capacity crowd here at the Aviva Stadium would send them to France following Friday’s 1-1 draw in Bosnia, their task was made all the easier by referee Bjorn Kuipers, who awarded them a controversial first-half spot-kick.
Daryl Murphy dug out a cross from the right side of the penalty area and the ball hit the midriff of defender Ervin Zukanovic, who was standing just a yard from the Ireland forward.
So when Kuipers blew his whistle it was assumed an infringement had taken place elsewhere.
Not so and, after the official pointed to the spot having indicated a handball, the Irish accepted the gift and Jon Walters converted with aplomb.
The Stoke City frontman then volleyed home midway through the second half to send Martin O’Neill’s men into next summer’s finals and the Aviva erupted on full-time.
It was 2009 when Henry’s handball went unnoticed by the officials in the build-up to the France goal which eliminated Ireland in their World Cup play-off.
This, then, felt like a long overdue slice of good fortune. It was remarkable given they rescued a campaign that had seemed destined for a sorry conclusion before the game against Gibraltar in September.
They were fourth in the group and needed favours to even take third. O’Neill’s mood on the eve of that game was one of weariness and there was little excitement around the fixture on the Algarve.
But then, as they journeyed to the game, iPhones and the like relayed news of Georgia’s goal against Scotland in Tbilisi.
At the stadium, they watched as Georgia held on to claim a victory that transformed Irish fortunes and they duly strolled to a 4-0 victory.
That night, perhaps even more than the famous win over Germany the following month, was the game-changer in their quest for France. But it was an opening they had to seize and subsequent wins over Georgia and the world champions put them in control of their destiny.
Their motivation ahead of last night was never in question, but the sight of veteran striker Robbie Keane arguing with a BosniaHerzegovina coach during the warm-up — he had intruded on home territory — only highlighted the tension.
O’Neill vowed on the eve of the game to attack Bosnia, insisting it would be a ‘recipe for disaster’ were Ireland to try to protect their slender away-goals advantage.
And attack they did. An incisive offensive down the left saw Jeff Hendrick feed the over-lapping fullback Robbie Brady and his low delivery was smuggled behind by the boot of Asmir Begovic with Walters poised to pounce. The hosts continued to enjoy all of the territory and duly got their reward in the 24th minute, albeit in fortuitous fashion.
Walters seized the opportunity from 12 yards and won the battle of wits with his former Stoke team-mate Begovic, tucking confidently into the bottom corner.
At least the concession snapped Bosnia from their slumber and Edin Dzeko slammed into the sidenetting from 18 yards moments after the restart.
The visitors had, however, offered little in the final third and the sight of Roma playmaker Miralem Pjanic collecting possession on the fringe of his own area told its own story.
Bosnia did have one clear chance to level before half-time when Dzeko rose to cushion a header into the path of Haris Medunjanin, but he blazed over from just inside the penalty area.
The rash finish was in keeping with the ill-discipline of the Bosnians and they were lucky to finish the half with 11 men.
Medunjanin sought to make amends for his earlier miss after the interval and drew Darren Randolph into his first save of the contest after taking aim from 20 yards.
Deportivo midfielder Medunjanin was proving Bosnia’s best bet for inspiration and, from his whipped free-kick, Ciaran Clark was forced to intervene and head over his own crossbar with the delivery seemingly destined for the far corner of Randolph’s goal.
These were nervy times for the hosts and Senad Lulic should have equalised but instead swiped at fresh air when Edin Visca escaped down the right and pulled back from the byeline.
The miss was to prove costly when Walters sealed Ireland’s win on 70 minutes, smashing a volley beyond Begovic having peeled away at the far post to connect with Brady’s free-kick.
Former Celtic manager O’Neill had spoken beforehand about Walters epitomising the spirit of his side.
Here, he added the quality which has taken Republic of Ireland to the finals — not forgetting their good fortune.