I'll go for Ashley Grimes & Whelan.
In that game v Spain (late Euro finalists) Grimes' goal could do with a bit more context, it was of its time, the quintessential Irish goal.
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I'll go for Ashley Grimes & Whelan.
In that game v Spain (late Euro finalists) Grimes' goal could do with a bit more context, it was of its time, the quintessential Irish goal.
So full-time on the second batch of knock-outs, and again, two quite clear results. Jason McAteer H v Holland 2001 beats James McClean A v Wales 2017 by a score of 13-0, while Alan McLoughlin (A v Northern Ireland 1993) accounts for Liam Brady (H v France 1977) on a vaguely competitive 9-4 scoreline.
Matt Holland v Ashley Grimes (currently 7-3) and Ronnie Whelan v Kevin Doyle (currently 10-0) will remain open for votes until the morning, but in the meantime, we now have -
Matt Holland A v Portugal, 2000 v Robbie Keane A v France, 2009
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_9f5-6Bvc0
The other match then sees two arguably lesser lights in terms of goals - Darron Gibson H v Wales 2011 v Denis Irwin H v Belgium 1997
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOKax_8dELY
Holland/Whelan
Holland/Irwin
Holland/Irwin
Holland/Gibson
I think this knock out stage could be designed to trap us into contradicting our group votes.
Holland and Gibson
Robbie Keane
Denis Iwirn
Holland
Gibson
Keane
Gibson
Holland + Whelan
Holland + Gibson (just about)
keane
irwin
Probably a bad draw to have Matt Holland twice in the same pairings! I think I have all the votes in correctly anyway, and that won't happen again.
Except it will, because Holland's up again now... :rolleyes:
Ah well. Results are Matt Holland (N v Cameroon, 2002) 9-3 Ashley Grimes (H v Spain, 1983), and Ronnie Whelan (N v USSR, 1988) 12-0 Kevin Doyle (H v Andorra, 2010)
It's 6-3 in both the open matches - Matt Holland and Darron Gibson leading Robbie Keane and Denis Irwin respectively. Still time for that to change - though they are at least the first competitive ties we've had!
The next two matches are up as well, and include our two most-nominated players - Matt Holland and Robbie Keane account for a quarter of all the goals at this stage. First off, we have Andy Reid H v Cyprus 2004 v Robbie Keane H v Yugoslavia 1999
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsE2v_z3rvA&t=0m24s
Time is 0:24; time-stamped link is here.
And the second tie then is Aiden McGeady A v Georgia 2014 v Matt Holland A v Estonia, 2001
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHjf0nWN0_0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNKA9NzM7Yc&t=0m53s
Time is 0:53; time-stamped link is here.
Keane/McGeady
Reid/McGeady
Reid and McGeady
Holand
Gibson
Keane
McGeady
Hard to separate the occasion/importance from the quality of the goal itself (some may think it's an integral part of it, and fair enough).
Holland/Gibson
Reid/McGeady
Keane
McGeady
3-3 now between Keane and Reid - the first properly close tie so far!
Reid
McGeady
Reid
McGeady
Andy Reid
Aiden McGeady
keane / mc geady
Reid/McGeady
Matty Holland v Portugal and Darron Gibson v Wales march on, overcoming Robbie Keane v France and Denis Irwin v Belgium on 8-3 scorelines in each case.
Gibson's is the first non-competitive goal in the last 16 - so far, we have three finals goals, two qualifcation-securing goals and two goals against sides who topped our group.
Aiden McGeady v Georgia is 11-0 up on Matt Holland v Estonia, but the other tie is much closer, with Andy Reid v Cyprus holding a 7-4 lead over Robbie Keane v Yugoslavia.
And we can crack out two more knock-out ties now. First up, Kevin Doyle A v Slovakia, 2007 goes head-to-head with Robbie Keane A v Holland, 2004. Only one can progress...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vVu9Q2EgHc
The second of this evening's ties then sees Jon Walters H v Uruguay, 2017 up against Ian Harte H v Israel, 2005. Both scored from around the same spot in around the same way, though one was a free-kick and one was a pop out of nothing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT5jI27qXOE
Doyle/Harte
Keane
Walters
Sets us up nicely! :)