Shay Given - save well when called upon, which is always the mark of a good pro. Little worried that he seemed to catch a lot of the shots on the second bounce. Clean sheet will do him good
Kevin Kilbane - was good going forward on the overlap, but still defensively suspect. Targetted quite a bit by the opposition, and not given enough cover by McGeady
Richard Dunne - Bizarre defensive header aside, another towering performance
Sean St Ledger - Solid beside Dunne
John O Shea - Excellent, one of his best games for Ireland. Benefiting from a run in the starting XI at United
Aiden McGeady - Frustrated again, was identified early on as a threat and was double marked, and received some hefty challenges. Still needs to work on his final ball, and the defensive side of his game
Glen Whelan - Faded in the second half, but not a bad game. Could have opened the scoring late in the first half
Paul Green - Made some early mistakes and never really recovered. Suicidal pass in the second half nearly let them in for an equaliser
Liam Lawrence - Linked up well with O'Shea, worked hard and created havoc with crosses. Set pieces were a little below par though
Kevin Doyle - MOTM, never stopped running, gave their defence all kinds of problems, gave us an out ball at every opportunity, run the second half deserved a goal
Robbie Keane - Clearly short of match sharpness, and tried to make up for not winning a penalty by trying to win a penalty for the rest of the game. The early miss, and shot off the post would have haunted lesser players
Subs:
Keith Fahey - Took the goal well, was actually a lot harder than he made it look. Some neat interplay with Keogh and Doyle near the end to keep possession
Andy Keogh - Replaced Doyle as the target man, didn't do a lot, but what he did, he did it well
Green has played better than this, and will again, but will probably lose his place to Keith Andrews when he returns. I actually think Green is a better player, but Andrews makes less mistakes. Make of that what you will.
Despite some deserved criticism, I'd still start McGeady against Andorra (assuming Duff is unavailable) and give Cunningham his first competitive start.
Fahey's goal will give him confidence at this level, and I'd like to see him start in midfield alongside Whelan against Andorra, who are not going to be making many forward runs.
3 points is 3 points, end of story. Assuming we win on tuesday, we'll have 6 points, and be 2 points better off than at the same point in the last qualifiers.
lads for those of ye who are watching the slovakia game, how is that going? I know its nil nil and half time but who is looking the better team. A draw there would make it a damn good day.
Good cool finish by Keith Fahey. A lot of players would panic in that situation and sky it.
Still 0-0, Slovakia don't look anything special.
''and I for one welcome our new insect overlords''
just missed an incredible chance!
Slovakia owning the ball, Macedonia just had a good effort though by Pandev.
Macedonia down to 10 men with 5 mins to go. Hold on Macedonia!!
Given 6
O'Shea 6
Kilbane 5
Dunne 8
St Ledger 9
McGeady 5
Lawrence 7
Whelan 6
Green 6
Keane 6
Doyle 9
I thought Doyle and St Ledger were excellent.
Fahey saved the day. If he hadn't scored we'd have been slitting our wrists. The Trap would be getting slagged off and Keane would be getting a bit of abuse from some fans as well. Funny old game. Green can and will play better. Andrews has been mr invisible for many a game so I'd still stick with Green for Tuesday night.
Well did it finish 0-0. Great result for Ireland if it did
no. slovakia scored in the last min.
Andrews is injured anyway and is out for the next game.
worst mistakes of the game
1. Robbie's golden goal chance
2. Dunne's og of the decade moment.
3. Green's suicidal pass
So questions posed by todays game.
-> Is lack of game time impacting on Keane's game?
-> Did McGeady take his chance to challenge Duff for his place?
-> Is Paul Green good enough for this level?
-> If Keith Fahey is to get a starting position where exactly should that be and at whos expense?
-> Is Kilbane really the best option we have at left back?
Answers:Originally Posted by Murfinator
-Yes
-Not given ample opportunity
-Not a hope
-centrally ahead of Andrews and Green
-No way
I think the importance of match practice was summed up by Shay Given today. Have we ever see him spill so many balls as he did today? I know it was probably dry and sticky there today but it was unusual for the lad.
Don't know if I'd agree, Lawrence has had less match time in the past two months than both Keane and Given and played a blinder today.
I think it was a good all-round performance, even allowing for the opposition. Only players who struggled were Green (was good off the ball but lacked precision on it) and McGeady (didn't get much of the ball but didn't look too hungry for it either). Would be great if Doyle and Keane can open their accounts now on Tuesday.
Would agree with you bar the second answer where I would have said no.
"We lost because we didn't win"- Ronaldo
If we can win all of our home games and our away game with Andorra and get at least a draw in the rest we should have an exellent chance of winning this group.
Given 8 – Kept busy, done what he had to do professionally
O'Shea 7 - Was very solid. Defensively solid, didn't attack much.
Kilbane 6 – Good going forward but fading pace was exposed at times, and needs to be replaced. Great servant but time to move over.
Dunne 7 – Someone who hasn't been able to train due to injury, but acquitted himself excently.
St Ledger 7 – Done well, took a few chances with bouncing balls but got away with them, improving all the time.
Lawence 8 _ Good game, probing all the time and working his knacks off. Looked shattered at the end
Green 5 – Worked hard, but made some bad mistakes which he was lucky enough to get away with.
Whelan 6 – Like Green worked hard. didn't make any mistakes but didn't really get on the ball much.
McGeady 6.5 – There were times when he could have been fed the ball and didn't get it early enough. Was double marked, so need ball early. However when he did get the ball, should have made more of the possession.
Doyle 9 – Wonderful, selfless performance. Challenged for every ball, chased lost causes all night - the perfect target man.
Keane 7 – Robbie was his usual frustrating self. Pieces of great skill, should have scored 2 but was on the prowl all night.
Fahy – took his goal really well
Keogh – Worked his ass off, and deserves more time in his natural position
Always look on the bright side of life
Wonderful article in the Star:
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/football/...-over-Armenia/NORTHERN IRELAND SCRAPE A WIN OVER ARMENIA
ABOVE: Steven Craigan celebrates the win
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