Soccer

And it all started so well for Republic of Ireland's expectant fans

Shane Duffy's early goal had Ireland fans dreaming big dreams
Shane Duffy's early goal had Ireland fans dreaming big dreams Shane Duffy's early goal had Ireland fans dreaming big dreams

Moment of the night

A friend of mine had backed Shane Duffy to score and Ireland to win 1-0 in the first leg. Before kick-off last night he was undecided what his bet should be for the second leg.

“Do the same again,” I suggested.

For 25 minutes they looked like prophetic words after the Derry man soared in the Denmark box to give Ireland the lead. But then, of course, Denmark had to and spoil it all. Hope he didn’t put the bet on.

Nearly moment 1

Cyrus Christie cross and Darryl Murphy – the man with the lungs of a Kenyan long distance runner and the heart of an, erm, Kenyan lion – got on the end of it. Nobody deserves a goal more than the Dubliner who chases more lost causes than a posse of country boys at their first disco but his shot zipped just over the Denmark crossbar. A call then and Ireland fans would have off to design a new range of t-shirts with back-to-front Rs for next summer.

Nearly moment 2

Robbie Brady played a through ball to James McClean midway through the first half. The Derry winger raced into the box but his left-foot zipped just past the post.

We’re still okay

Pione Sisto got on the end of Eriksen’s short corner, nutmegged Harry Arter and flashed a cross across the box. Andres Christiansen poked it towards Ireland’s goal, it rebounded off the post, hit Cyrus Christie and dribbled over the line. Ah no.

Are we still okay?

Stephen Ward is an experienced Premier League full-back so Martin O’Neill will have been tugging his hair out when he attempted a deft flick on the halfway line instead of playing the percentages. The game was 1-1 and Ireland were still well in it when Ward tried to beat Andreas Christiansen. 10 seconds later Eriksen had the ball in the net.

We’re definitely not okay

Eriksen’s second goal.

Here, will we head on and beat the traffic moment of the night

This practice is not encouraged but the trickle of ‘fans’ in green that had begun to file out after the Dane’s third goal became a flood after their fourth. In fairness there was no way back for Ireland after it but credit to the Ireland fans that stayed on and continued to support the team.

Meanwhile, the Denmark fans enjoyed the party.

“You only sing when you’re winning,” they sang, taunting the Boys in Green.

Christian Eriksen watch

The Spurs maestro plays like a youngster in his back garden. Left foot, right foot… His three finishes last night were all superb.

After a quiet first leg, Jeff Hendrick let him know he was there inside the first minute last night and Harry Arter did the same a few minutes later, but you can’t keep him quiet forever and he popped up emphatically after half-an-hour to crack a shot in off the bar which gave Denmark the lead.

His second goal was a curling left foot effort from the edge of the box and he thundered a right foot screamer past Darren Randolph to complete a world class hat-trick. The World Cup will be poorer for Ireland’s absence but richer for him being there.

Key moment

Thirty-two minutes had gone and it was 1-1 when Yussuf Poulsen read Stephen Ward’s ill-judged attempted to beat him and suddenly Denmark had a three-v-two against Ireland’s defence. Bang-bang-bang and the ball was in Ireland’s net. Jorgensen found Eriksen and he did the rest with a postage-stamp finish.

Ref watch

Polish official Szymon Marciniak refereed the game well. There was no Corry Evans handball moment last night and no real controversy to speak of and Marciniak let the game flow and played the advantage when he could.

Save of the night

In the first half Darren Randolph was the only entrant in this category. The West Ham netminder saved brilliantly from Willian Kvist and then again from Pione Sisto a minute later.

But probably the best of all came around the hour mark when Christian Eriksen was clean through on goal. Randolph came out and narrowed the angle as Eriksen lashed the ball to his left, he got both hands to it and kept Ireland in the game.

Squeaky bum time

Squeaky bum moments are guaranteed with the Republic of Ireland and there were plenty after they opened the scoring last night.

Ciaran Clarke always looks to be a mistake away from ruining an otherwise good night’s work and Stephen Ward also had the jitters last night in an off-colour performance.