Jonathan Walters is congratulated by team-mates after scoring the second.
Rep of Ireland 2-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina agg. 3-1Home team scorersJonathan Walters 24 pen
Jonathan Walters 70
It was the classic Republic of Ireland performance, full of fight to the end endeavour, rigid discipline and downright stubbornness, and culminating ultimately in a place in Euro 2016 and those wonderful scenes at the final whistle when they could finally relax and reflect on one of the great nights of their modern era.
Martin O’Neill’s team gave everything. They ran after every ball, never shirked a tackle and when they needed a centre-forward to show composure and experience in front of goal Jon Walters passed the test with distinction. His first was a penalty midway through the opening half but it was his volley, after 70 minutes, when the tension made way for a wave of euphoria.
That was when the crowd knew that, barring a calamity, O’Neill’s men would be heading to France next summer and, considering the recent history of this team, they probably do not care a jot that there was an element of controversy attached to the win. Yes, the handball decision against Ervin Zukanovic for Ireland’s penalty was probably a mistake, but who will begrudge Ireland a dash of luck almost six years to the day since Thierry Henry’s infamous goal prevented Giovanni Trapattoni’s side reaching the World Cup?
This is a team featuring three players from Championship clubs, a goalkeeper from West Ham’s reserves and a back-up from Millwall, ninth in League One. The only constant theme has been their spirit of togetherness and this was a night when all those qualities were evident. They were quick to the ball, strong in the tackle and their workload was prodigious. They were also seriously hyped up judging by Robbie Keane’s angry pre-match confrontation with one of the Bosnia coaches about where exactly the two sides should be warming up.
The argument settled, Ireland quickly fell into their pressing style, defending in numbers but breaking quickly and playing with the collective ethos that their opponents should never get too much time on the ball. They played with great energy but it was also true that they benefited from some overly generous refereeing. Zukanovic, the Bosnian adjudged to have handled Daryl Murphy’s cross, was so close to the ball a case could be made that he could not do a great deal about getting out of the way.
The ball struck him, rather than the other way around, but the Dutch official, Bjorn Kuipers, ruled in favour of Ireland and that left Walters placing the ball on the penalty spot and looking up to see his former Stoke City colleague Asmir Begovic in the goal. Walters kept the ball low, aiming to Begovic’s right as the goalkeeper threw himself to the left.
Ireland had lift-off and, for O’Neill, the most encouraging part throughout the rest of the first half must have been how his team held off the possibility of a quick response. Bosnia were rushed into mistakes and, apart from one shot into the side-netting, Edin Dzeko was often isolated in attack.
The players in O’Neill’s team chased everything. It can be tricky in these fixtures sometimes to get the balance right between attacking and conservatism but Ireland mixed the two well and that meant, throughout the opening 45 minutes, there was not a single moment when Darren Randolph had to make a noteworthy save.
The question was whether they could keep up that formidable pace throughout the entire match but it helped that when the ball was played up to Walters he generally had the knack of making it stick, in the way that O’Neill always wants from his front players. Bosnia, however, had to be more adventurous in the second half. They began that period with a spell of prolonged possession and an increasingly anxious crowd longed for the home side to get hold of the ball.
Eight minutes after the restart, Edin Visca eluded Ireland’s left-back, Robbie Brady, for the first time. Ireland’s defence seemed to have dropped 10 yards and the game might have taken on an entirely different complexion if Senad Lulic had not miscued his shot. The home team had lost some of their early dynamism and soon afterwards O’Neill brought on Shane Long and James McClean for Murphy and Wes Hoolahan in an attempt to re-energise them.
What they really needed was the cushion of a second goal. Emir Spahic’s dangerous tackle on Walters – reckless enough to warrant his second yellow card of the evening – gave Brady the opportunity to swing in a free-kick from the left. A Bosnian player applied the first touch but Walters was at the far post. His volley beat Begovic at the near post and O’Neill was almost lost afterwards in the victory scrum.
Guardian
