Kean gave the Irish the Carling Nations Cup after scoring the only goal against Scotland, who were also chasing the trophy after they had gathered the same number of points. Thus, the Republic of Ireland finished the competition with nine points in three games. Giovanni Trapattoni’s side scored nine goals and conceded zero as Ireland provided by fat the best performance of the week. That was also Irish’s first win over Scotland in 48 years. Scotland went second in the table with two wins and one defeat, so they were condemned to win yesterday’s game.
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It was both an electrifying and tense match which found the two sides conceding six yellow cards, four for the Irish and two for Craig Levein’s squad. The first big chance of the meeting came in eighth minute from Adam whose dangerous shot from range went just wide over Given’s goal. Team-mate Bardsley imitated him ten minutes later, the defender hitting the bar with a 40-yard thunder keeper McGregor would only watch at. Finally, Keane broke the ice and brought the first lead for the hosts following a big mistake from Brown who lost the ball in dangerous area, allowing the captain to make some space for a well-placed shot from just outside the box. The midfielder fired the ball down the corner from 20 yards under McGregor.
Scotland broke back immediately but Adam’s effort was saved by Given. The 39th minute highlighted the same Scottish side chasing their leveler desperately. Robson fed Naismith with a superb cross the striker failed to connect inside the area. Ireland were the first to pick a yellow card through McShane who took down Barsely with one minute remaining. So, the first half went 1-0, but both sides looked decided to score at least one more.
Concerning the second part, it started with Ireland’s free-kick. Hunt took the responsibility for it, picking Cox whose finish traveled across the face of the goal without being intercepted. Adam was the second to pick a yellow card for his sins in the 60th minute. Trapattoni then replaced Lawrence with Seamus Coleman, while Adam departed for Barry Banna in the 64th minute. Forrest got his first big opportunity a couple of minutes later. Robson delivered another dangerous shot but the right midfielder failed to even the score. Ireland made another change in the 67th minute, introducing Kevin Foley for O’Dea.
The newly-introduced picked a yellow card just ten minutes after being sent in for a tough challenge on dangerous Forrest. Robson made way for Chris Maguire in the 76th minute, but Scotland looked almost the same. Miller got his first yellow in the 78th minute for fights with the referee who had refused to award the visitors a penalty. Given made a tremendous save just one minute later as Scotland were besieging his goal. With seven minutes remaining, Keane departed for Keith Treacy and a standing ovation. Levein then replaced Forrest with Ross McCormack.
Miller had the last word of the night, missing a great opportunity in the 88th minute. The Scott was picked in good position only to shoot it wide. The last yellow was picked by Andrews for time-wasting and kicking the ball away. Ireland won as Scotland conceded their first loss of the competition. Said Keane: “The talk all week was of Charlton’s record so it was nice to equal that but the important thing is that it is good to win any game and I believed we deserved to do that. We’ve had a good week, we’ve won both our matches and we will hope to take that good feeling into our next match.”
Wales have gone third with three points, while Northern Ireland, who conceded ten goals and scored zero finished the week foot of the table with zero points. Ireland beat Wales 3-0 in the first day of the competition, and managed to grab a 5-0 win over the North. Scotland defeated Wales 3-1 in the first match, while the second one brought them a 3-0 clear win over the same North.
