A Game Of Two Halves
Tuesday 8th February 2011. Carling Nations Cup. Aviva Stadium
Ireland 3-0 Wales
The Republic of Ireland got their 2011 schedule off to a winning start with a 3-0 victory over close neighbours Wales in the Carling Nations Cup.
If ever a game deserved the classic footy cliché “Its a game of 2 halves”, this encounter was the epitome of the phrase. While being at my kindest, all I can say about the 1st half is it was 45 minutes (plus injury time) of my life I will never get back.
And while the second half wasn’t exactly anything to write home about it did produce 3 good goals from the Irish team. Firstly Darron Gibson, despite closing his eyes while striking the ball, sent a thunderous drive past Wayne Hennessey to get the ball rolling. Some good work from Jonathan Walters set Damien Duff up for a close range score while Keith Fahy rounded things off nicely with a well taken free kick.
So while a win is a win and a 3 goal margin is always a good thing, it should also be remembered that Wales were quite possibly the worst team I have seen in a long time … I’m thinking they would have battled hard with the Gentex of the past in the old League of Ireland B Division!
On a good note Seamus Coleman, Ciaran Clarke and Marc Wilson made their long awaited debut … On a bad note though, the positioning of the TV cameras, and the only 2 Wales subs not to get a game constantly warming up right in front of me, meant that I got bugger all snaps.
Click Here For More Photos From Rep. of Ireland v Wales
Damien Duff fires home Irelands 2nd goal against Wales
AC Sports Images 