You're right actually. Here's the moment the final whistle was blown, just after the six-minute mark on Sky Sport's timer:
Somehow, I'd thought there was a bit more added on.
I'd forgotten some of those incidents you mention. I suppose when you're desperately willing a game to end, your perception of time changes and the minutes seem like an eternity! No doubt, when the shoe is on the other foot and you're desperate for more time, the smallest of interruptions or delays stick in the mind.
I was critical of the ref from the perspective of both sides. Somehow, Brady got away with shoving Woodburn over at the edge of our box. The ref inexplicably gave us a free out. Presumably, he thought Woodburn had dived. I wasn't complaining, but I'd have been annoyed at that if I was a Wales supporter. It was actually very close to being a penalty.
Murphy's booking (for a trailing arm making minimal contact with Ramsey's head) was a joke, considering it should have been a free for us. Ramsey's foot was high and I thought Ramsey's head actually moved more so towards Murphy's arm - which was in the air as Murphy tried to maintain his balance - rather than the other way around.
Just on Joe Allen's concussion, McClean's contact definitely caused him to bang the front of his head off Meyler's body, but Allen's head hitting the ground may also have contributed to the injury. He did bang the back of his head quite hard off the turf as he fell.
There's video footage of it here: https://twitter.com/SeanOR95/status/917742405343961088
The contact was light, but Brady definitely attempted to head-butt Williams' upper-arm/shoulder and did make contact. Williams didn't react - he may not even have realised it was an attempted head-butt - but it was nevertheless stupid on Brady's part and now leaves him open to being penalised.
I assume (or hope) that it would have to constitute violent conduct for a ban to be imposed, so the fact excessive or brutal force was not used may be Brady's saving grace. Brady already received a suspension this campaign for kicking a ball away in Austria; we can't really afford for one of our best players to be missing out for petty nonsense like that.
He was very sluggish and cumbersome, so my guess is he isn't fully fit, or is that just the way he operates?
No, you're definitely right. There's no way Hendrick was trying to direct or influence Hennessy. Hendrick's gestures were obviously for the benefit of Irish players as he also signalled to the left - presumably for Murphy to pick up on - just before signalling right.
Last edited by DannyInvincible; 11/10/2017 at 10:18 PM.
^^^^^^^^
Brady was lucky with that push alright . Brady needs to get his discipline under control. He is doing some daft stuff and getting too many silly suspensions .
There's some criticism of Eamon Dunphy's post-match "Where would we be without Londonderry?" joke (as he applauded the contributions of Shane Duffy and James McClean) here: https://www.sportsjoe.ie/football/ea...mcclean-139099
My own interpretation of Dunphy's comment - and I'm giving Dunphy the benefit of the doubt here, as I'm sure he's well aware of the potentially incendiary or provocative nature of such a remark (and he's a self-declared supporter of Sinn Féin) - was that he was using the term ironically/sarcastically to mock the notion of Derry as a British city/county on a night when two (or three, if you include O'Neill) of its sons had served their country - Ireland - so well.Originally Posted by Conan Doherty
Last edited by DannyInvincible; 12/10/2017 at 12:55 PM.
I was messing about with something about McClean to the tune of Roddy McCorley/Sean South, which in theory at least is a cracking tune for a football song, but it ended up being about the match in Cardiff. I'm aware that it's rubbish and I've only got 1 verse but it's a start
See the fleet foot host of men
Who went to Wales that day
Christie, Duffy, Clark & Ward
Bold and brave were they
There were men from Dublin and from Cork.
A goalkeeper from Bray
And a Derryman, called James McClean
Who put the ball away.
Thank god the internet is anonymous. It's there as an idea to be improved on.
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
We were much better organised than we have been in the past, we pressed the Welsh and denied them time and space, yes they had possession, but it was not good possession they created little with it. If we carry on like that we will always have a chance. Good team work can take you a long way, you don't need a Gareth Bale, Wales didn't have one anyway.
I think the McClean chant is fine, football chants are essentially a bit of fun for a laugh, no need to take them too seriously.
It was a needless thing for him to do but I'm surprised it's even being investigation. It was beyond harmless, to the point that Williams didn't even notice it. I don't think it was meant in an aggressive way, more a "damn you Williams for flinging me to the ground", kind of way, if that makes any sense. I don't think he'll be punished.
"President praises Irish soccer team for ‘rising to occasion’": https://www.irishtimes.com/news/irel...sion-1.3253500
Originally Posted by Simon Carswell
Usual blog on the trip and game for those interested, enjoy reliving it!
http://afalsefirstxi.blogspot.ie/201...f-thrones.html
Irish Football Blog - A False First XI - http://afalsefirstxi.blogspot.ie/
Twitter: @afalsefirstxi
To Follow on Facebook go to:https://www.facebook.com/afalsefirstxi/
I had another look at the game, this time in english, the rte version.
Wales played like a broken team after we scored, needing 2 goals appeared a forbidding task, they functioned less as a unit against a solid team that we were, willing to scrap to the death, eg Meyler's late lunge, reckless and unnecessary but the man was in full uncompromising battle mode.
Possibly in that last 30 mins, the dashing brilliance of Bale could have imposed some real rallying effect on the Welsh, but in his absence they had no such personality.
Perhaps Bale could have been named a sub and taken on the Ronaldo (Euro Final) role on the sidelines.
Our high pressing game was a thing of chaos, absence of method, sudden lunges towards a Welsh player in possession and dashing hither and thither of at full belt towards the next. That just burns up the energy, still the goal came about from such enthusiastic pressure.
Over the campaign, Ireland's stock game was below standards, that situation remains.
Possibly the play offs, another do or die scenario, will suit us and inspire a similar effort.
I quite like Fields of Athenry - especially the part where the crescendo goes to "Loooowwww lie...". It reverberates across the stadium. I composed an Irish version of Men of Harlech on the plane coming over (based on the song in the film ZULU ) but when I got my friends to sing it in the pub after the game, this Welsh supporter thought we were taking the pi@@ and we had to can it (I had revised it after the win):
Men of Ireland start your dreaming
the spires of Moscow they are gleaming
Shane Duffy - James McClean
Ireland's goal machine.
The back four stood ye steady
for the onslaught you were ready.
Welsh attacks you did defy
Resist to qualify
Though the Welsh surrounded us
This was our chorus
Summon all we will not perish
You will never beat the Irish
Men of Ireland onto glory
This shall ever be your story
The greatest victory on the field
Ireland will not yield.
Last edited by OwlsFan; 13/10/2017 at 9:06 AM.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
Listening to a few podcasts over the week, notably football weekly and totally football. Seems to be a feeling that we murdered the game but we're defensively superb - no difficulties with that. But also a strong current that we are very physical, even too much so. Maybe I've the green goggles on but I just don't see it, the Welsh fans forum still bitching about how physical we were and that ref was poor.
The bet this guy made that James helped him win...I really hope it was Tricky. Pringles stock will be up 1000% if so.
http://www.sportbible.com/football/g...unter-20171013
My sense was that we bullied them out of it. Full blooded tackles all match, plenty of aerial duels, and also some unnecessary extras from time to time.
I think those unnecessary things from time to time gaves Wales needless set pieces at points, but also conversely rattled our opponents.
I remember one particular play where McClean was chasing a Welsh player toward the sideline -- the player was running away from our goal and had no support, yet McClean barged into the back of him needlessly. It gave the Welsh a free kick from a peripheral position but the point is it was needless to give up as jockeying would have been more effective in theory.
But there is an attritional effect when you barge into your opponents time and time again. It can wear them down physically and make players want to get rid of the ball more quickly than they normally would, perhaps forcing them into bad decisions.
To be clear I'm not criticizing the approach because it helped us get to the playoffs. But I'd say the Welsh have legitimate grievances. But then again, their man broke our captain's leg with a horror tackle so I won't be shedding any tears.
We're undoubtedly more physical and graft-oriented than finessed, but they're seriously lacking in self-awareness if they think they weren't just as physical (at the very least) over the course of their two games against us. In the first game, Taylor broke Coleman's leg, for heaven's sake.
Bale should also have been sent off for a nasty studs-up lunge on O'Shea.
And Glenn Whelan finished the first game with a bandage on his head because of a high foot from Ramsey.
In fact, Ramsey did the exact same last Monday on Murphy, but Wales were bizarrely awarded a free-kick from that clash because Ramsey's forward motion caused his head to connect with the trailing arm of the off-balance Murphy. For some Welsh fans to assert that we are uniquely physical is a denial of the reality that was apparent for all to see over the course our two games against them.
The ref last Monday was poor, I thought, but for us too, and he gave them more than enough additional time to score - over six minutes of stoppage time were played - but they were ultimately toothless when it came to breaking down our rear-guard and putting the ball in the back of our net. Too bad...
Last edited by DannyInvincible; 13/10/2017 at 11:10 PM.
An amusing read on Monday night's game and the experience of being an Ireland supporter, this...
'How I love the Irish team but still hate the way they play': https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/h...2c3e78a7c395d7
Originally Posted by Michael Foley
Brian Kerr has a piece in the indo today which sums up a lot of my feelings. We don't play football to a level that our players are capable but the end result justifies the means. Last Monday really defined the fine margins between euphoria from an Irish win and promotion to play off and a draw where team/manager would be slaughtered for tactics/lack of possession etc.
It really is bonkers. We had 13 free kicks each, so nothing suggests that we were overly malicious in our approach. The fact that we came out the better of most arial duels and 50/50 tackles should not be a criticism in any way. We had five yellow cards, two for time wasting which were actually dubious enough, but I do like a referee who clamps down on it before it gets out of control.
McClean on Ramsey was the only poor foul that I can remember on our side, but it wasn't much different to Allen's wild swipe at Meyler.
I thought the ref managed the game pretty well overall. He didn't get everything right but he got most things right, that I can recall. That Murphy one was strange alright.
Any sign of Cymro since the match? Hard luck if you're lurking, would be interested in your post match take on it.
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