Wales signed off their Euro 2008 home campaign with a game that, at most times, would be called entertaining if a little short on quality. However on a chilly afternoon with a crowd of maybe just 20,000 (including 4,000 Irish) it was soulless and numbing to be there. The soul is sucked right ouf of Welsh football right now.
However The Red Dragon can take some pride in their performance as they fought and challenged, never gave up and got the result they deserved. For the Cardiff City fans amongst us, Joe Ledley did will partly in central midfield and wide left but the big shock was right back Chris Gunter - who can't get in Dave Jones' 16 right now and was stood near me at Charlton in the away end last week - was starting at left back and he did well too.
Shorn of Bellamy and Bale to injury amongst others, it was threadbare and, on paper, didn't look as strong as Eire. However Wales deservedly took the lead with a smart move and a far post Jason Koumas header from a superb Ledley cross.
The Welsh youngsters fought like demons but the Irish had some quality going forward and that lead only lasted a few minutes when Danny Gabbidon - one of the few Welsh players to have a poor outing in my view - never lunged at a through ball, Robbie Keane was away and made light work chipping past the advancing Hennessey.
Half-time saw a number of fans leave for the pubs and warmth instead as the game and occasion was a bit of a non-event. My missus left and went home after 15 minutes although she was feeling unwell.
The second half saw Wales applying pressure without really getting anywhere although Shay Given made a couple of superb stops and was definitely the busier keeper all afternoon. Jason Koumas, the game's best player by a mile, was tapped on the tun and got booked for diving. It means he misses Wednesday's trip to Germany and kept his record of somehow missing every Wales away match for more than 2 years.
All that work went to waste when Eire brought on Steven Hunt as sub, 20 seconds later and first touch, our defence criminally failed to clear his cross and Kevin Doyle steered home.
It looked all over and fans, many depressed with Dave Jones and Cardiff City, were discussing what next for Wales and Toshack. However Koumas was trying everything, Given denied him twice, but with a minute to go, late sub David Cotterill charged on a through ball and held off Nicholson until he got into the box then was taken down. Jason Koumas spanked away the penalty beautifully.
Next up is Germany away in Frankfurt. Koumas will be missing and so, I guess, will Karl Robinson who was stretchered off in the first half and seen on crutches in Westgate Street at final whistle. That's going to be a long night for our kids.
BBC report and interviews:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/7099901.stm
Koumas complains about his booking:.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_of_wales/7094569.stm
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