Rep of Ireland 1 Bosnia 0:IN CASE anyone had been lulled into believing the manner of this victory marked a minor shift in priorities, Giovanni Trapattoni made it clear at Dublin airport yesterday that it is still results he craves far more than "shows".
Against a decent Bosnian side at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, however, his Republic of Ireland players managed both. The display, you understand, was not exactly a thing of lasting beauty or anything like that but it was certainly pleasantly diverting; providing enough by way of light entertainment to ensure those who had come out to cheer the team off had more than Shane Long’s goal and the sunshine to brighten up their afternoon.
The manager certainly saw enough to send him home happy. That goal, a close-range headed effort set up almost perfectly by Aiden McGeady 12 minutes from time, combined with another clean sheet made it 13 games without defeat over the last 15 months; a run during which the Irish have only conceded three times.
However, they were a little fortunate not to have found themselves behind over the course of a first half that the visitors edged. But, having scraped their way through the odd lapse at the back and benefited from Edin Dzeko’s desire for everything to fall perfectly into place before he would attempt a shot, they gradually got on top of things and were, by the end, worthy winners.
Those given the opportunity to impress did so, with James McClean looking strong, capable and focused at least until the closing stages when he faded badly. Darron Gibson helped to turn the tide in midfield where he won possession, and, especially after the break, helped to drive the home side forward to good effect.
Paul McShane will also feel that he has done enough to reassure the manager that he can be depended upon if an injury obliges Trapattoni to draft him into the 23 man squad for Poland.
Wearing 24 here and playing at right-back, the Hull City defender worked hard to contain the Bosnians and showed a fair bit of enterprise when given the opportunity to push forward.
He also provided a crowd clearly anxious for a bit of party spirit with one of the afternoon’s more entertaining moments when he played a bit of ‘keepy-uppy’ before hoofing clear. The manager, of course, may not have been as enthusiastic as those in the stands.
Beside him, Darren O’Dea didn’t do too much wrong when defending and the Dubliner on a couple of occasions posed a threat at set-pieces. Keiren Westwood had little enough to do, with neither of the moves that yielded the visitors’ best chances of a goal, both inside the opening 10 minutes, requiring him to make a stop. In both instances the final shots, the first by Vedad Ibisevic and the second by Haris Medunjanin, were off target and Trapattoni must have been slightly irritated at that stage by the extent to which his back four were riding their luck.
When required to contribute, though, Westwood looked solid and having gathered confidently on a handful of occasions he did save well when confronted at about the hour mark with a long-range free by Miralem Pjanic that seemed to move about so much as it travelled that the goalkeeper had to recover from having committed himself a little too early.
Neither Richard Dunne, who took over as captain for a spell after Robbie Keane departed, nor Seán St Ledger showed any signs of struggling with the injuries that had threatened to keep them out of the game.
Trapattoni said afterwards that he had decided overnight against taking the risk of starting the pair together and so they played tag instead but both did comfortably enough to suggest they are on course to partner each other again when the real action gets under way.
McClean has rather less chance of starting against Croatia but he did himself no harm at all here with the 23-year-old showing the desired willingness to track back and pressure opponents while also coping well enough with a switch for a spell on the right.
Early on, he fared well when taking on Mensur Mujdza, too, pushing out beyond the right-back or cutting inside to equally good effect and there was a snap shot, too, at one point that required Asmir Begovic to get down smartly at his near post.
By the end, though, the quality of his delivery had deteriorated considerably and substitute Miroslav Stevanovic repeatedly got the better of him. It was hard at that stage to see why Trapattoni didn’t replace him, which may have been Stephen Hunt’s point to the manager when, having failed to get on despite having been stripped and ready to go at one stage, the midfielder spoke animatedly to the manager at the end. He was, it seemed, subsequently told to keep his chin up.
Shane Long won’t need any such encouragement after getting his seventh international goal in 25 appearances. The hosts might have been in front from early on when Glenn Whelan should have had a penalty after being brought down by Begovic after having burst with impressive power and purpose into the box and a more confident Kevin Doyle would probably have also beaten the Stoke City goalkeeper from close range after good work by Keane to hold off a defender and set him up.
Ultimately, though, McGeady’s arrival for the second half added real quality to the Irish attack. The winger hit the post with his own first touch of the game after Doyle had headed a Stephen Ward free into his path but his cross from the right to the far post for the goal, after a little shimmy to shake off his marker, was inch perfect.
He also provided Jonathan Walters with two fine chances to find the net, too, with the striker sending a header crashing off the crossbar and then clipping the goalkeeper’s shoulder as he attempted to fire past him.
Walters’ disappointment at not being able to finish was obvious but around him the sense of celebration was already kicking in with the single-goal margin clearly enough for the majority of those inside Lansdowne Road to be regarded as a solid start.
AVIVA TEAMS:
How they lined out
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Westwood (Sunderland); McShane (Hull City), Dunne (Aston Villa), O’Dea (Celtic), Ward (Wolves); Duff (Fulham), Gibson (Everton), Whelan (Stoke City), McClean (Sunderland); Keane (LA Galaxy), Doyle (Wolves). Subs: McGeady (Spartak Moscow) for Duff and Andrews (West Brom) for Whelan (both half-time), Walters (Stoke City) for Doyle and Long (West Brom) for Keane (both 63 mins), St Ledger (Leicester City) for Dunne (70 mins), Kelly (Fulham) for McShane (78 mins).
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: Begovic; Mujdza, Jahic, Pandza, Lulic; Pjanic, Rahimic, Medunjanin, Misimovic; Ibisevic, Dezko. Subs: Vrancic for Medunjanin and Stevanovic for Rahimic (both half-time), Zahirovic for Mujdza (56 mins), Vranjes for Ibisevic (70 mins), Alispahic for Misimovic (82 mins).
Referee: N Haenni (Switzerland).
