Jamaica Game

[pineapple stu]

He's on now...

[Slash/ED]

He got about 8 minutes, what's the point in that ffs? Should have been given a half at least.

[macdermesser]

Thanks for letting me know ... that puts that whole will he won't he debate to bed. Still 1-0 according to livescore.net

[1MickCollins]

Based on what?

Based on the fact that he is a very good player, he was unfortunate in that Eric Black didn't give him many games at Coventry last season to the dismay of many fans. He has potential and is a rel hard worker. I think that is 2 goals in 3 appearance now.

[1MickCollins]

No sign yet, Kerr should get the finger out and get him on, isn't this tournament all about players like him?

I think Kerr giving McGeady 8 minutes means

1) He can't play for Scotland now.
2) He isn't ready for the big time yet.
3) He avoided playing against Scotland U21 in Galway on the 26th.

[eirebhoy]

Barrett and Lee were the two best players for Ireland. Morrison worked very hard. Maybury is probably the lowest in confidence of all our players, he never goes forward and only touches the ball when needs be.

I think Lee could be the best partner for Keane. Keane always played his best football with Niall Quinn beside him and Lee is very similar to Quinn in every part of his game. Elliot would be my first choice to partner Keane for the future, even ahead of McGeady. McGeady is a player thats best suited to playing behind the front two.

BTW - Kerr was absolutely delighted with tonights win. I never seen him show so much emotion after a match. We really needed that win going into the Holland match.

[Plastic Paddy]

Kerr was absolutely delighted with tonights win. I never seen him show so much emotion after a match. We really needed that win going into the Holland match.

Well, f**k me sideways. Kerr should have expected nothing less. To be delighted with this win shows a distinct lack of ambition. Brian - prove me wrong.

Tonight? Great atmosphere, poor match. We deserve better performances, and don't anyone try to tell me otherwise.

PP

[dynamo kerry]

Well, f**k me sideways. Kerr should have expected nothing less. To be delighted with this win shows a distinct lack of ambition. Brian - prove me wrong.

Tonight? Great atmosphere, poor match. We deserve better performances, and don't anyone try to tell me otherwise.

PP

with the players we had out there? I think he had every reason to be delighted.
A half decent defence with a second string midfield and an unproven strikeforce

It will be interesting to see if maybury plays again at the weekend - would like to see him gain some confidence

are we holding off until after saturday to decide on who the successes of the series are

[eirebhoy]

Well, f**k me sideways. Kerr should have expected nothing less. To be delighted with this win shows a distinct lack of ambition. Brian - prove me wrong.

I think it was more relief than anything. Jamaica had better and more experienced individuals out there on the pitch but we were the better team on the night. Imagine if we lost tonight, the players would have been going into the Dutch match really low on confidence. High or low confidence we are odds on to lose on Saturday but to lose 3 in a row going into the qualifiers would be worrying.

Anyway, I hope thats the end of this Unity cup forever.

We know what the team will be for the Dutch match with the exception of 2 of the midfield spots. It will be the same team that played against Romania with O'Shea in for Maybury and both Keane and Miller need to be replaced. Who'll partner Holland and who'll play on the right? I'd say it will be Kinsella partnering Holland but I hope not. I'd like to see Rowlands get a start on the right.

[Peadar]

As per usual the FAI and the term shamble's are mentioned in the same sentence.

Chill out there bitter lemon.
The FAI treated us to 3 top class games of football against quality opposition in Lansdowne Road for €60
That alone has gone some way to easing the pain of failing to qualify for Euro 2004. A result against Holland would help further. You can't blame the FAI for the farce in Charlton.
This Unity Cup thing has been running since 2002 so the promoters, Optima Sports Management International, have no excuse for poor event management. The blame lies solely with them.

[finlma]

Very poor game I thought. Lee didn't show much ambition and seemed slow to make any moves. Clinton is definately not good enough for international football. Maybury defended well but he didn't have much competition and he didn't push forward enough. McGeady should have been given more than 10 minutes.

The highlight of the night was the streaker.

[Bowsy]

Thought it was a poor game but a decent result and performance with a 2nd string. Thought Barrett had very good first half, Lee battled well and would like to see Clarke again. Morrison's approach play as always was good but he's becoming the Irish Heskey with his finishing at club and International level. That header!!
Others out there battled well they have no place in an international team. Against a decent side Quinn, Maybury, Doherty would have been torn apart. Quinn just rushes heedlessly towards the ball all the time.

[tetsujin1979]

Watched the game last night in Frazer's again. Lot of Jamaicans in there as well, not as many as the Nigerians on Saturday, but there's probably a smaller Jamaican community in Dublin.

Thought the performance was much improved, considering these are supposed to be our "reserves", this is heartening to see. Quinn in the centre, and Kinsella (surprisingly enough, considering his "performance" at the weekend) added a lot of bite to midfield. On Radio 1 after the game they were saying there wasn't a whole lot to take from the game as we had struggled to break down an inferior team. Think they missed the point that out of the starting 11, only 2 (O'Shea and Morrison) were playing Premiership football last season. It does go to show that we do have decent players in the lower divisions that can come in and do a job for us. I can hardly see many from this team taking on the French, but 1 or 2 might come in against the Faroes or Cyprus to prevent needless injuries to more established players.

Kenny - Did well considering it's only his second game at this level. Had their long shots covered and will be thankful Clarke was on the far post for their best chance, even if I thought it was going wide. Thought it was a little odd that he didn't pick the ball up from several back headers from the defence.

Maybury - Improved from the weekend, showed a willingness to stay back when the team was breaking. Still has to be considered 3rd choice full back (at best) although his ability to play either flank could stand him to be a squad player.
Doherty - Way improved over the weekend. Might have had something to do with his defensive partner, and the difference in pace between the partnerships. Won everything in the air and showed he can be a danger from corner with a shot midway through the first half.
O'Brien - On this showing he'll be Cunningham's partner for the qualifiers. Tackled hard throughtout the game and showed great discipline to stay back to allow Doherty to become a danger from set plays. Playing regularly in the higher reaches of the Premiership and in Europe, it's hard to see how Breen, Doherty, Dunne, etc could oust him.
O'Shea - Looked a little tired after a long season and came off at half time. Showed some nice touches to release others and play on the overlap.

Barrett - Took his goal well and battled hard throughout the game. Another option on the right on this showing, although it would be nice if he became a regular striker at Coventry. Think I heard Joachim is leaving so he still might.
Quinn - Should have played at the weekend. Overcame initial game jitters to run the midfield for the majority of the first half with Kinsella. Tackled and shot from distance, which is a big part of his game. Needs to play at a higher level than 2nd division to be considered a regular.
Kinsella - Not the same Kinsella that played at the weekend. Like Quinn, tackled hard and was unlucky with a shot from distance. Think he was there just to guide the younger players through it. Excised the ghosts of the weekend and, if he continues in this form (and finds a club!) he'll be in the squad come the qualifiers
A Reid - Unlucky not to get his first goal at this level with a fine show. One of Kerr's more enjoyable headaches in the future is how to accomodate Duff and Reid in the same team.

Morrison - Rightly derided in the press for an awful miss from a header early on. Worked hard and chased every ball. Having said all that, if I had the chances he had in the first half, I'd currently be celebrating my first international hat-trick. Might be one of those "he just needs one goal" players to really get going. Tracked back to help the midifield and defence in the second half when the Jamaicans were in the ascendency.
Lee - Like Clinton, worked very hard. Especially in the second half to hold p the ball. Probably just going to be a squad player, but a decent squad player.

Subs:
Clarke - Played a tidy second half and could give Harte a run for his money for second choice left full behind O'Shea.
Rowlands - Didn't do too much after he came on
Holland - Played the last few minutes of the game like he played the whole of Saturday's game
McGeady - Ah, the future - apparently. Didn't expect him to do too much in the time he had but he did show some very nice touches. Just glad the whole "declare for Scotland, go on, go on, go on, go on, GO ON" debate is now over and he can concentrate on playing for Ireland. Expect him to play for the U-21's next season, and get some more senior caps in the winter friendlies.

[only1kilbane]

Thought it wasnt a bad game especially if you were there saturday you will know what i mean a huge improvement by the lads. Impressed with Graham Barrett hopefully with a new manager in Peter Reid he will get a good run this year. Thought CLive Clarke looked decent again a better option than maybury to cover oshea. Also thought andy o brien and doherty looked steady. Andy Reid again looked good on a terrible pitch.

Unfortunately Clinton is still the best option we have though hopefully elliott or mc geady can make the breakthrough this season though at this stage its too early for them

[Junior]

Saw you on the box last night, giving it laldy to the National Anthem, you looked fairly buckeled by the way.......

[sylvo]

That were'nt the Bob marley after shave Junior, that was me 5am start and late finish from work yesterday that helped to me to my glazed look, ok we did have a couple of glasses of Donegal tweed before the match, thank's to Pat's mobile off licence.

[Plastic Paddy]

That were'nt the Bob marley after shave Junior, that was me 5am start and late finish from work yesterday that helped to me to my glazed look, ok we did have a couple of glasses of Donegal tweed before the match, thank's to Pat's mobile off licence.

I saw you all too briefly in the Rose whilst working on being several sheets to the wind myself, Sylvo. According to my auld fella, I was also on the box wearing me Ireland shirt and draped in the Jamaica flag (well spotted, Pa). The thing he commented on though was the sight of my sister, stood next to me and stuffing her face full for the camera with one of Charlton's finest sausage rolls. Oh, the shame...

PP

[liam88]

Was I on the TV at all lads or was I in the wrong stand?
My highlights of the night;

4. Lovely burger outside the stadium
3. The goal
2. Getting Shay Givens autograph at half time
1. MEETING THE FOOT.IE LADS

It was a brilliant meet-up and great to see you all-I'll know you'll kill me PP but the pictures are going up tonight or tommorow (I'll get you a pint at Fulham-make up for it ) . Met a few more of you guys at the station on the way home and I just want to say to all of you- THANKS FOR A GREAT NIGHT!
PP-get Geraldine to sign up!
I'll see you all round and here's to the next meet up

P.S I loved the lads with the BBQ outside the stadium "COME AND GET YOUR JAMAICAN CHICKEN.......................COME AND GET YOUR IRISH CHICKEN" (all the same stuff -smelt nice though)

[lopez]

My highlight of the night was meeting this bumberclot rood bwoy outside The Antagonistic. He was coming out with a pint, a baseball hat and a complexion that hadn't seen a sun ray in years when Mister Pol-eeees-man stop him with a: 'Oi, we've had words before! Get back in.' He tells me in a rich Kinston patois 'dat babylon rasclot, he take me spliff las time I is in da road.' Apparently he wasn't no 'redleg' from Kingston but from Ballyfermot via Kensal Green. Another geezer comes out and claims he's a 'relative' starts speaking in the appropriate Ballyfermot brogue to which rood bway starts talking in a similar South Dub accent.

That and the Jamaican fan who looked like the black bloke in Scary Movie on the train to London Bridge that claimed he's just over two months in the country 'chillin', cos I shot two pol-eeees-man in Kingston.' Nice bloke although I wouldn't bring him home to mum.

Liam, the chicken was HOT! HOT! HOT! but at £5 a leg and a slice of bread a rip-off.

[slow2anger]

My highlight of the night was meeting this bumberclot rood bwoy outside The Antagonistic.

I'm surprised you can remember - the state you were in! I saw you dribbling at one stage.........