Martin O’Neill has hailed the character of the Irish after his side were roared to a priceless last-gasp point in Dublin tonight.
An injury time Shane Long equaliser rescued the Republic at the death and it is now the fourth point in five games that O’Neill’s men have accumulated with their last-gasp goalscoring antics.
Aiden McGeady’s late strike won the game in Georgia whilst John O’Shea’s heroics stifled the world champions and, once again, the Irish refused to go silently into the night as they sucker-punched the Poles to snatch another draw that feels uncannily like a victory.
And, whilst the manager reckons that the result places more emphasis on Ireland’s need to beat Scotland in June, he is confident that the familiar Aviva roar will help his team.
“Naturally, it’s a very, very important game. I think we’d have to be Scotland, yeah,” O’Neill admitted. “It probably just boils down to that. We have to win that game and, if that second half showing is anything to go by, I think we’re capable of doing it.
“It can sound patronizing but I think the crowd was really fantastic. This was my first experience of the crowd, playing a competitive game – other than Gibraltar which was a game we were expected to win and we got goals early on in that match so there was always a feel-good factor about that game.
“Here, tonight, under pressure – severe pressure – a goal behind, I thought the crowd were fantastic for us. Really, really fantastic. And [they] played a big part in keeping spirits going and I think that will be very important for us now in the next set of matches here.
“Scotland next. If you were to think about the atmosphere in the dressing room now at the moment, I think the players would like to be playing Scotland next week. We can rise to the occasion and, with the crowd behind us, we can win the game.”
And it is that never-say-die attitude of his players that could prove crucial in the next five games. Ireland have three home matches remaining but still must face Germany again as well as a trip to Warsaw at the end of the year but Martin O’Neill insist that his players won’t give up. A trait which they have continued to embrace.
“Whatever we may lack, courage and spirit are not among them,” the county Derry man stated. “I don’t think it’s a fluke now that we’ve scored late goals in games and, had there been a few more minutes left in the match, we may have been able to win.
“That’s three times now we’ve scored in the last few moments. We also hit the bar against Scotland. I know it’s cliché phrases, but it does show something about the character of the team.
“We keep going right until the end and, who knows. At the end of it all, tonight might end up being an important point. We are still well in it.”
