Ever since he’s arrived in Ireland, Heimir Hallgrimsson has been talking about doing the basics right. Ireland didn’t quite manage to do all the basics right tonight, but they did score an amazing 1950s throwback goal to beat Finland and secure third place in League B Group 2.
It was the last minute of the first half and it didn’t look like there was much on when Mikey Johnston received the ball on the left and advanced on Nikolai Alho. But then Johnston started throwing some jinks. First he veered left then he cut right, paused, and went left again. It looked like he had delayed too long, taken it too wide, made the crossing angle too difficult, with Alho looking likely to block.
It turned out Johnston was just toying with us. He surprised the Finnish defence with a delicate chip across goal that left the keeper Lukas Hradecky stranded at the near post. Hradecky helplessly watched the ball float over his head into the path of Evan Ferguson, who leapt powerfully through the defenders to head Ireland into the lead.
Old-fashioned dribbly wide man play and a big centre-forward’s thumping header: proper football. The mood at half-time was bullish.
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“Not a bad game,” an Ireland fan said to me at the break. (In comparison to many recent games this was a giddy review). “You know who he reminds me of, Smithwicks?” “Szmodics?” “Yeah sorry, Szmodics. The way he plays, he reminds me of Craig Bellamy.”
You can see it – something about the slightly hunched posture and the determined running, the sparky tenacious way he attacks the game. A Craig Bellamy regen would do very nicely for Ireland at this time.
The team was set up in a way that suited him. Uefa announced Ireland’s formation as 4-4-2 but watching them on the pitch it looked more like 3-4-3: either way, Szmodics was the tip of the spear.
Johnston’s inclusion had freed Szmodics up to play centrally and at last we were getting to see whether he and Evan Ferguson could combine to make things happen as a central partnership.
Not a lot happened in the first 20 minutes of a patternless game except the crowd screaming “Shoot!” at Irish midfielders who got the ball in any central position within 35 yards of goal. Jason Knight, ever eager to please, obeyed the crowd’s command and sent a ridiculous left-footed effort well over. Josh Cullen, wiser and more experienced, ignored them and laid it off.
At least the crowd seemed to be feeling optimistic and on 24 minutes Ireland gave them something more substantial to shout about. Festy Ebosele flicked a ball inside to Ferguson, who controlled and played a perfectly weighted ball into the path of Szmodics, bursting through the last line. The striker calmly rounded the keeper and slid the ball into the back of the net before the linesman’s flag ruined everyone’s fun. The call was correct, Szmodics had gone just a little too early, but here was a little flash of what might now be possible.
Before we get too excited it should be briefly noted that Ireland nearly conceded four goals in 10 minutes just before half-time. First Robin Lod curled a shot onto the far post with Caoimhin Kelleher beaten. Then Benjamin Kallman nearly looped a header into the far corner beyond Kelleher’s dive, but it dropped just past the post. A minute later Kelleher saved Ireland with a stop that we are learning to see as characteristic, saving Kallman’s one-on-one effort with his legs. Then Oliver Antman tried to complete a fine Finnish passing move with a carefully aimed shot from 14 yards that deflected off Nathan Collins onto the post. Collins recovered to head the rebound out for a corner. On a less fortunate night these could have been some ugly scenes.
Instead there was the relief of getting away with it and then the joy of Johnston and Ferguson giving Ireland the lead.
All was going well until 73 minutes, when the Finnish substitute Daniel O’Shaughnessy treacherously hooked a ball goalwards and onto Ferguson’s outstretched arm. The Finnish players immediately appealed what looked a rather blatant handball. When the play went dead and the inevitable VAR review came the only mitigating circumstance Ferguson could claim was that the ball had been kicked onto his arm from a distance of less than two yards. But when the arm is raised to shoulder height it’s hard for a referee not to give it.
To make the situation even more annoying for Ferguson he was taken off at this moment, a change that Ireland had been preparing to make for several minutes: he would not have the chance to make amends in the remaining minutes. Festy Ebosele was also taken off at this moment with an injury, and as the soft misty rain fell the crowd braced for the familiar disappointment.
Joel Pohjanpalo had scored past Kelleher last month in Helsinki. The big Finn stepped up and shot low and left – but this time the Irish goalkeeper denied him with a brilliant double save, first stopping the penalty with a dive to the right, then recovering to smother the rebound at the base of his left post. Kelleher took some kind of damage as Pohjanpolo went for the loose ball and needed a couple of minutes of treatment. When he finally got to his feet he was greeted with one of the biggest cheers of the night.
Kelleher was duly voted man of the match for the second Ireland game in a row. With his combination of calmness, athleticism and fine technique, Kelleher is maturing into a really outstanding goalkeeper. Liverpool must think Georgi Mamardashvili is something very special if they really believe he’s better than this guy.
