Rep. Of Ireland… 1
Lithuania… 0
Sometimes things happen in life which, with the fullness of time, emerge as a clear sign of what was to come in its wake. For example, having spent two hours on a soccer pitch in Wales practising it the week before, it was as if Sean Boylan and Meath knew they were going to need the greatest goal Croke Park has ever seen to get past Dublin in their fifth meeting of 1991.
Not for a moment is it being suggested that the likes of Chieozie Ogbene’s spectacular goal against Belgium was serially rehearsed. Or Troy Parrott’s late strike against Lithuania tonight, for that matter.
What clearly has been transfused into the group by Stephen Kenny is confidence and belief in their own ability. Would Ogbene have saddled up for his bicycle kick or Parrott have tuned up his beautiful number with bulging the net in the 97th minute under some of Ireland’s previous regimes? Highly doubtful.
Indeed, it is not outlandish to think they would have settled for the draw and parked the bus while the taste of the half time Jaffa Cakes was still fresh in the mouths of the players. Kenny’s Ireland are different however.
They play with an abandon, a freedom, a confidence. And there are damn good footballers in and around the national senior team at present. Quite obviously within Jim Crawford’s U-21 setup who remain on course to qualify for their European Championships after beating Sweden 2-0 tonight.
As for the senior victory, for this corner at least, the greatest boon flowing through Irish football presently is the amount of ‘home grown’ talent in the team at the moment. That is not, in any way to disrespect those who have played for Ireland by qualifying to do so.
Rather, it stands as an endorsement of whatever work is being carried out at underage and developmental level. Currently, there are players from Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Cork and Meath either in or on the fringes of the squad.
As for tonight’s game itself, it gives you some indication of the amount possession commandeered by the home side that they had FOUR goals disallowed for offside. Then again, it also points to ridiculous officiating, but in other news today is Wednesday!
Ireland may not reach the heights scaled under previous managers anytime soon, but Kenny’s crew are on the road to bigger and better days for sure.