They did a lap of honour as the usual suspects sang the usual guff about the Fields of Athenry and how lonely it is around there. Wet night that was in it, things were fairly lonely around Lansdowne by the time the lap of honour ended.

The party, such as it was, is over. Fate was kind to Ireland in arranging that the Most Serene Republic of San Marino would be the last visitors at our dilapidated southside rental.

Too serene to be bothered by the sodden pitch, the drafty stands or the over-caffeinated PA announcer, they came, they saw and they were conquered. As usual.

Thanks for having us they said as they departed.

As for the spread? So predictable was it all that for the last 20 minutes or so the crowd made their own fun - Mexican waving as if their lives or at least their body warmth depended on it. There was some singing, but it wasn't one of the great olé, olé, olé occasions.

Getting out early and beating the traffic was enough for most people to be worrying about. Those who departed quickest missed the late completion of just the fourth Irish hat-trick scored here as Robbie Keane applied the last punctuation mark to a brief history.

Soccer's tenancy at this ramshackle version of Lansdowne reminds one a little of Beckett. It passed the time, but the time would have passed itself anyway. Ireland played some memorable games here, but they would have been memorable played anywhere.

The atmosphere, the facilities and the pitch seldom matched the drama. The next few years at Croke Park will be as much of a new beginning for soccer as they will for the host association.

In the end last night there was five goals worth of daylight between the sides. No more than was expected, less than was hoped for. Even in our current state of decrepitude we were scarcely likely to be outshone by a collective conceding an average of 10 goals per game in the present competition.

Were it boxing we would have been the shaken veteran and the Sammarinese would have been the tomato can, a near corpse placed in the ring merely that it might be beaten up.

Duly we landed our punches and we danced an arthritic version of the old waltzes. We stung like bees and we floated like them too. Andy Reid scored from a deflected free early on and we shuffled a bit and said we could have been contenders.

Kevin Doyle scored his first goal in an international jersey and Robbie Keane followed up with his 27th, 28th and 29th - the middle one a penalty.

We hoped for eight to match the record drubbing we once dished out here to Malta, but in our hearts we knew it wouldn't be.

Among the many things we won't be missing during the next few years are the primitive media facilities at Lansdowne.

The final trek down to the bandroom for the final press conference didn't promise much.

Steve Staunton's, uhm, laconic media presence means that his press conferences aren't exactly hot tickets at the best of times, but having secured a win just about sufficient unto the occasion the script practically wrote itself.

"I think that Ireland played better than us and we are very happy for our players," said Giampaolo Mazza, the San Marino manager, who has seen worse days.

"Pleased. Got five goals. Job done. That's all we could ask for," said Stan, who has also seen worse days.

The news from Cyprus that the mischievous homesters had secured a draw with Germany was intriguing. Cyprus better than we thought? Germany, post Klinsmann, worse? "I always knew there would be points won and lost along the way. There's a lot to play for yet. We won't be giving up the ghost. We missed a couple of chances. Obviously we will have to be a lot more clinical against better teams.

"Conditions made it a bit slower than what I would like. Andy Reid passed the ball well, Kevin and Robbie stuck the ball away well. The lads were enjoying it. There's not many games where you can go out and attack, attack, attack."

The highlight of the conference was one of those little Stauntonesque passages, as typical by now as the Ronaldinho stepover. "Steve, what about Robbie Keane's record now of 29 goals." It's an easy one hanging there like a pinata to be smashed into a hail of clichés. Just do it, Stan. "Hopefully there'll be 29 more." says Stan.

What was Robbie's reaction to Shay Given kicking the ball into the stand at the end of the game? "What can you say?" A few words exchanged? "One or two maybe!" Phew! Crazy.

The end of the first year in charge Stan? How has it gone?

"Haven't come across an easy year yet," he said sounding like Hank Williams on a down night. "There's always tough times."

It finished, fittingly, with a look forward to Lansdowne Road and a promise to make it a fortress. We turned our collars up against the rain and left without a backwards glance.