Ireland 1 Portimonese 1

**tetsujin1979** · 18/05/2008, 1:55 PM

Andy Keogh scored his first goal for Ireland in the practise game against local side Portimonese, with a host of players making their first senior appearance in green, along with the return of Dean Kiely: http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=c...=3183&Itemid=9

**superfrank** · 18/05/2008, 1:57 PM

Will that count as a "real" goal for Keogh?

**ifk101** · 18/05/2008, 2:04 PM

I see he subbed every player except those playing in the back four.

**zenokelly** · 18/05/2008, 2:08 PM

It was interesting to see that Foley and Garvan were the only players not to get a run.(presuming they're still there!)

The centre defence is horrifying. I don't rate Alex Bruce at all. A poor man's Paul McShane in my opinion. It's just a pity that his father didn't declare for us as well!

Really the result doesn't matter but you would've expected us to have beaten a local side.

**Charles Bronson** · 18/05/2008, 3:12 PM

Agreed , training game or not , a 1 all draw againast the local postmen or whatever isn't really the most encouraging result.

**SwanVsDalton** · 18/05/2008, 3:31 PM

The side should've been good enough to win handy. Trap didn't seem too happy during the game by all accounts, be interesting to see what changes tomorrow.

**dancinpants** · 18/05/2008, 4:42 PM

Originally Posted by SwanVsDalton

The side should've been good enough to win handy. Trap didn't seem too happy during the game by all accounts, be interesting to see what changes tomorrow.

S v D, thats not the same Portuguese side Derry beat 4-1 a couple of years ago is it in a preseason match?

**amaccann** · 18/05/2008, 4:58 PM

This match meant nothing to both sides; they talk about meaningless friendlies? This would have been below that level. I wouldn't read anything into this beyond the first chance for Trap to see some of his players in action.

**rambler14** · 18/05/2008, 5:03 PM

Poor result but in fairness it was a young team and I doubt that Damien Duff was an influential captain based on his current or should I say lack of current form.

**Jicked** · 18/05/2008, 5:22 PM

I'd be fairly sure that this was just a case of keeping the players who's season finished a few weeks ago fit, rather than actually having them looking to break sweat.
And no, it won't count as a "proper" goal for Keogh, nor will Scannell et al be considered capped.

**rambler14** · 18/05/2008, 5:28 PM

Hardly a game to be taken notice of when considering that they didn't even wear the proper jersey's. Last time they wore the Eircom logo on the jersey it was Niall Quinn's testimonial!

**dancinpants** · 18/05/2008, 8:36 PM

If it wasn't such a big deal why was Trap losin' the head on the sidelines then?

**SkStu** · 18/05/2008, 8:47 PM

totally agree DancinPants.

professional footballers (and managers) want to win every game regardless of the quality of the opposition. This is a poor result no matter what spin anyone puts on it.

The real signs of whether we are entering a new era or not will be from the performances against Serbia and Colombia though. The performances will be more important than the results imo.

**shakermaker1982** · 18/05/2008, 9:14 PM

lads we had a centre back pairing of Bruce and McShane - To get a draw is a brilliant result!!!!

**dr_peepee** · 18/05/2008, 9:18 PM

Jayzus... I've been a staunch defender of McShane..... but that partnership has me p!ssing out of my @rse....

**gustavo** · 18/05/2008, 9:26 PM

Originally Posted by SkStu

The real signs of whether we are entering a new era or not will be from the performances against Serbia and Colombia though. The performances will be more important than the results imo.

Not as such , Don't forget Stans first match against Sweden , A bit of a false dawn really

**stojkovic** · 18/05/2008, 9:45 PM

Originally Posted by gustavo

Not as such , Don't forget Stans first match against Sweden , A bit of a false dawn really

I was just gonna say that.

**Wangball** · 18/05/2008, 9:48 PM

Originally Posted by dancinpants

If it wasn't such a big deal why was Trap losin' the head on the sidelines then?

Because he likes to win

**Qwerty** · 18/05/2008, 11:12 PM

The only results that count are those in competitive games, we take friendlies a bit too seriously and get a little carried away with some of the 'excellent' results we have had in friendlies.

Trap has a major job on hands, we lack depth everywhere, lots of numbers but little quality. Stepehen Hunt was the 3rd best Irish performer in the EPL, do I need to say more?

We desperately need Finnan & O'Brien to come back for the next campaign. We desperatly need Andy Reid to stay fit. We desperately need Duff and Doyle back on form.