Sport

Irish automatic qualification hopes Polished off in Warsaw

Ireland's Robbie Brady salutes the travelling support amidst Poland's celebratory ticker tape in Warsaw on Sunday night<br />Picture: PA&nbsp;
Ireland's Robbie Brady salutes the travelling support amidst Poland's celebratory ticker tape in Warsaw on Sunday night
Picture: PA 
Ireland's Robbie Brady salutes the travelling support amidst Poland's celebratory ticker tape in Warsaw on Sunday night
Picture: PA 

THE red and white ticker tape cascaded all around the Narodowy Stadium on Sunday. The music blasted and the Polish fans danced. They had come for a celebration party.

Over 57,000 passionate fans roared their team through to next summer’s Euro 2016 finals. The Irish could have no complaints. They were well beaten. In the end, the visitors were outdone by the brilliant Robert Lewandowski – the stand-out player in Group D. The Bayern Munich striker’s bullet header three minutes before half-time proved the difference. 

In the 14th minute, the hugely impressive Grzegorz Krychowiak opened the scoring for the Poles in what was a shoot-out for automatic promotion in Warsaw last night before Jonathan Walters equalised from the penalty spot a minute later. But that’s as good as it got for the Republic. 

Another equaliser would have sent the visitors through to the finals, and condemned Poland to the play-offs, and they almost pulled it off but Richard Keogh’s header in the 81st minute was palmed away by Lukasz Fabianski. It was the last nervous moment for the Poles as they held on for a deserved 2-1 victory. 

But all is not lost for Martin O’Neill’s men. They will enter next month’s two-legged play-offs in the hope of playing in their second consecutive European Championships next year. They won’t know their play-off opponents until all the groups are concluded tomorrow night while the draw will be held on Sunday morning. 

The hope is they will be one of the four seeds, depending on the co-efficient of other teams that make the play-offs. 

The Republic of Ireland never got near the dizzy heights of last Thursday night when they beat world champions Germany. The tactical breakdown of last night’s tense encounter was Ireland’s failure to get to grips with Poland’s midfield. 

There were periods where Krychowiak and Krzystof Maczynski ran Ireland ragged in the middle of the field, and they always carried the threat of Lewandowski whose movement and pace caused them all sorts of problems. 

Although they knew a high-scoring draw would put them into the play-offs, the Poles embraced the challenge from the first whistle and they played with admirable courage to finish second behind table toppers Germany who were given a scare last night before overcoming Georgia 2-1.

O’Neill made five changes to the side that defeated Germany on Thursday night. Seamus Coleman, Glenn Whelan, Shane Long, James McClean and Darren Randolph came into the Republic’s starting line-up and out went Cyrus Christie, Daryl Murphy, Stephen Ward and Shay Given (both injured) while Wes Hoolahan was surprisingly benched for last night’s shoot-out. 

O’Neill perhaps deemed the 33-year-old Norwich City schemer unable to play two high-intensity games in the space of four days, opting instead for McClean’s energy and freshness after he returned from suspension. And, Shane Long, the man who sank the Germans with a wondrous strike finally broke into the Republic’s side. 

After a scrappy enough start to proceedings in the fabulous Narodowy Stadium, this nail-biting clash exploded into life after 13 minutes. Four goals already to his name in Group D, Kamil Grosicki was denied his fifth in the 13th minute after a smart block by Randolph in Ireland’s goal. 

But seconds later the visitors were undone by a clever set piece routine. Grosicki swung his corner out to the edge of the Irish box and with all the time in the world to control the ball, Sevilla midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak hammered through a ruck of advancing green jerseys and into the bottom corner of the net.

The fanatical home support were still celebrating their opening goal when Shane Long was taken out by a high tackle from Michal Pazdan just inside the penalty area. Jonathan Walters was cool as ice, side-footing the spot-kick into the bottom right hand corner just beyond Lukasz Fabianski’s reach.

The Republic had a couple of decent moments with Robbie Brady sending in some dangerous free-kicks while Long’s pace had an unsettling effect on the Poland back line. But the home side always looked dangerous when they entered Irish territory. 

They may lack the smooth technical ability of the Germans but there was a sharper edge to their forward play. The Poles attacked Ireland’s right side, their left side, through the middle and eventually edged in front again through the prolific Lewandowski in the 42nd minute.

The Bayern Munich striker showed masterly movement. He resisted the temptation to dart into the box. Holding his run, the lively Maczynski picked him out and Lewandowski generated incredible power with his header which flew past the hapless Randolph.

It was Lewandowski’s 15th goal in six games – for both club and country – and his 13th in this campaign, equalling David Healy’s record goal haul in European qualification

In the second half the Republic seemed to lack the zip of four nights earlier. Krychowiak put Grosicki through in the 65th minute but Randolph made a brilliant block to keep the Republic in the game. 

As the Irish pressed for a second goal that would have turned Group D on its head, they left themselves exposed on the counter-attack. Seamus Coleman intervened to deny Lewandowski in the 72nd minute. 

A few minutes later O’Neill had played his hand as shrewdly as he could. Robbie Keane had already entered for the injured Long, and in an attacking move Aiden McGeady came in for defensive midfielder Glenn Whelan and Hoolahan was given the last quarter of an hour to make an impression.

McGeady’s one moment of skill saw his perfect cross find Keogh - but the big central defender didn’t get the connection he desired and Fabianski made a slightly uncomfortable save.  

The Poles played some nerveless keep-ball and every so often they would break out with pace and could easily have added to their tally. In stoppage-time John O’Shea hauled down Lewandowski and picked up his second yellow card of the night and will miss the first leg of next month’s play-off. 

But everyone would have taken a play-off berth before Group D started. That’s where the Irish find themselves now. Despite the bitter disappointment, all is not lost for Martin O’Neill’s men. 

MATCH STATS


Poland: Fabianski, Piszczek, Glik, Pazdan, Wawrzyniak, Linetty, Krychowiak, Olkowski (Blaszczykowski 63), Maczynski (Szukala 78), Grosicki (Peszko 85), Lewandowski; Subs not used: Szczesny, Cionek, Jedrzejczyk, Zielinski, Kapustka, Mila, Sobiech, Borysiuk, Boruc; Booked: Glik, Peszko; Goals: Krychowiak 13, Lewandowski 42.


Rep of Ireland: Randolph, Coleman, O’Shea, Keogh, Brady, McClean (Hoolahan 73), McCarthy, Whelan (McGeady 58), Hendrick, Walters, Long (Keane 55). Subs not used: Forde, Wilson, Meyler, Murphy, Christie, McShane, Gibson, McGoldrick, Elliot; Sent off: O’Shea (90); Booked: O’Shea, Whelan, Walters; Goals: Walters 16 pen.


Ref: Cuneyt Cakir (Turkey).