MARTIN O'Neill was in attendance at Sunday's All-Ireland SHC hurling final and the Ireland boss seems to have picked up a few lessons from the incomparable Brian Cody, whose Kilkenny side squeezed the life out of Galway to take home the Liam McCarthy Cup for the 36th time.
The following evening Ireland needed a second-half moment of magic from Jeff Hendrick to set up the only goal of the game in their crunch Euro 2016 qualifer against Georgia, and O'Neill paid tribute to the Kilkenny boss when attempting to explain the Republic's revival after the break against the Georgians:
“I heard a fantastic manager — Mr Cody from Kilkenny — say ‘sometimes people step up to the plate when you really want them.’"
Jonathan Walters' goal ensured Martin O'Neill's men opened up a four-point gap against their main rivals for third place, Scotland, who went down at home 3-2 to Germany on Monday night with two rounds remaining in Group D.
While holding off their Scottish rivals would secure Ireland's advance to the play-offs, O'Neill has set his sights on a top-two finish – and therefore automatic qualification to next year's Euros – but the Republic have the toughest climax possible to their qualification campaign with upcoming matches against group leaders Germany and Poland.
