SOCCER/Denmark 0 Rep of Ireland 4: In Steve Staunton's absence on Tuesday, Kevin MacDonald conceded that it really was about time that this Irish team started winning again away from home. Well, they did just that in some style at Aarhus last night, beating a depleted but still decent Danish team by four goals to record their biggest victory on the road for some six and a half years. It was Denmark's worst home defeat in 48 years, writes Emmet Malonein Aarhus.
The win, which came courtesy of two goals before the break by Robbie Keane and two after it by Shane Long, means that Ireland will be eight games and just over 11 months unbeaten by the time they take the field next month in Bratislava where, one suspects, Slovakia will make life a little more uncomfortable for them.
To beat the Danes like this, though, is still quite an achievement and there were encouraging displays in all areas of the pitch from the visitors over the course of the last hour after what had been a difficult opening spell.
The hosts, who looked utterly ragged for periods during the second half, have six games to come this autumn in their qualifying group and a fair bit of ground to make up if they are to qualify for next summer's European Championships. Coach Morten Olsen, though, remained bullish ahead of last night's game, predicting that his side can take all 18 points. With a trip to Sweden next up and the Spanish due here in October it always looked a tall order, and to judge by the booing at the end of each half clearly the levels of scepticism in the stands had grown significantly over the course of last night's contest.
The hosts had started well although the game's first moment of excitement came not from their good work but a Wayne Henderson fumble just 90 seconds in. The goalkeeper was a little lucky to get away with the mistake with Steve Finnan reacting more quickly than any of the locals but much later in the half he was to make amends by doing well to push a powerful shot from Jesper Gronkjaer over.
In the meantime, the home side could have gone a couple up. First Nicklas Bendtner saw his firm header come crashing back off the underside of the crossbar after Dennis Rommedahl had breezed past Finnan to cross and then Stephen Carr cut out an attempt by Jon Dahl Tomasson to set the unmarked Bendtner up for what would have been a tap in at the right-hand post. Getting in front by a goal certainly wouldn't have flattered the Danes at that point with Ireland's attempts to move the ball forward generally amounting to little in a sedate game dominated by the home side.
The Irish, indeed, looked capable of retaining possession for any amount of time only when well inside their own half and very little seemed to dropping right for Andy Reid or Stephen Hunt. Almost out of nothing, however, Reid picked Robbie Keane out with a 30-yard pass that sent the striker clear between Kasper Boguelund and Michael Gravgaard. The left-footed chipped shot was beautifully executed by Keane and the weight of it proved enough to beat Jesper Christiansen just short of the half hour.
When they doubled it 11 minutes later there was a strong sense of shock around the ground. Aiden McGeady's cross was perfectly judged and Christiansen duly came but Keane got there first and after his initial header had come back off the goalkeeper, the Dubliner's 31st international goal flew into the net off his shoulder.
Olsen's replaced three of his back four at the break but he then had to watch as things got a good deal worse for his team. Now sitting on a comfortable lead, the visitors began to push the ball around with more confidence while the Danes found themselves chasing their opponents about haplessly.
Staunton had introduced Darron Gibson, Shane Long and Andy Keogh for the second half and the first two of the three made their presence felt nine minutes after the restart when Gibson's long-range shot was parried by Chrisiansen almost to the feet of the Reading striker who showed a cool head as he slotted the ball low past the goalkeeper with his left boot.
Remarkably, Long was then presented with his second of the night, his third in five appearances for the senior team, 12 minutes later and again the 20-year-old showed flawless composure as he sidefooted home. Further changes made the Irish team look ever more inexperienced but it made little difference to the pattern of the game.
Only very late on, with the victory comfortably in the bag, did Staunton's men let up and after Peter Lovenkrands passed up a good chance to grab a consolation goals from 10 yards and Bendtner struck the woodword again with Henderson breaten.
It wasn't nearly enough to lift the spirits of the 17,331, only 200 or so of them Irish, nor to dampen those of the visitors. Games like this may rarely count for much but almost a year on from the defeat in Cyprus, Staunton and his men will travel next month with a lot more confidence.
DENMARK:Christiansen (FC Copenhagen); Bogelund (Borussia Monchengladbach), Gravgaard (FC Copenhagen), Agger (Liverpool), N Jensen (FC Copenhagen); Wurtz (FC Copenhagen), D Jensen (Werder Bremen); Tomasson (Villarreal); Rommedahl (Ajax), Bendtner (Arsenal), Gronkjaer (FC Copenn). Subs: Kristiansen (Nuremberg) for N Jensen, Laursen (Aston Villa) for Gravgaard, Jorgensen (FC Copenhagen) for Boguelund and Kahlenberg (Auxerre) for D Jensen (all half-time), Nordstrand (FC Copenhagen) for Tomasson (60 mins), Lovenkrands (Schalke 04) for Wurtz (68 mins).
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND:Henderson (Preston NE); Carr (Newcastle Utd), Dunne (Manchester City), O'Shea (Manchester Utd), Finnan (Liverpool); McGeady (Celtic), Potter (Wolves), Reid (Charlton Ath), Hunt (Reading); Doyle (Reading), Keane (Tottenham). Subs: Gibson (Manchester Utd) for Reid, Long (Reading) for Hunt and Keogh (Wolves) for Doyle (all half-time), Murphy for Keane (56 mins), Kilbane (Wigan Ath) for Finnan (62 mins), Kelly (Birmingham City) for Potter (68 mins).
Rerferee:T Einwaller (Austria).
