It wasn’t a great performance but who cares?
Ireland are in the playoffs again, their hunt for the World Cup is still on.
A 1-0 win in Wales has seen the Republic advance from their group and dump the Euro 2016 semi-finalists out of the campaign entirely.
A dogged display lit up by a bullet James McClean strike was enough to put the Irish in the hat and another give them another chance to make it to Russia.
Here’s how the players performed during a genuinely great win in Cardiff – regardless of how they played.
Darren Randolph 7
He was on top of everything thrown at him. Despite the constant pressure from the Welsh, there wasn’t that many clear cut chances and Randolph was alert and agile when called upon to produce stops. Lots of deep balls landing in his box too and he was comfortable all night. His press conference before the game was pretty boring, playing down the occasion and saying it’s just another game and you thought, ‘ah, come on Darren’. It turns out he wasn’t that bothered after all.
Cyrus Christie 6
Got forward every time he could but he didn’t create any big opportunities and he looked a little loose at times in defence.
Shane Duffy 8
Christ (sorry, RTE), he was super. The ball drew to his head like a magnet all night and he was flinging himself in the way time and time again. A monster of a performance.
Ciaran Clark 7
We got away with his customary slip-up again and once that’s out of the road, Clark is generally composed and calm and nothing seems to faze him. The best you can say about him lately in the Irish defence is that he largely goes unnoticed – apart from the heart-and-mouth moments.
Stephen Ward 6
Looked a little dodgy to start with but grew into it and eventually threw himself in the way of a vital last attack by the Welsh.
Harry Arter 6
Tidy enough without imposing himself on the game. Seemed to be on his heels too much and wasn’t coming onto balls when they were there for him. Tenacious though and a delicious dummy for McClean’s goal.
David Meyler 9
A captain’s performance. An tough, uncompromising, experienced performance. Do you know what, this was a David Meyler performance. He’s been sensational of late and he broke Welsh hearts for 90 minutes as the immovable anchor in the Ireland engine room.
James McClean 8
What a strike. Jesus, what a strike. Four goals in this campaign for Ireland – four massive goals and about 400 million sprints too. Good to have his energy, his bite and his drive back. And good to have his right foot chipping in now too.
Jeff Hendrick 6
Nicked the ball and took it to the line well for the goal but didn’t catch the pace of the game for most of it.
Robbie Brady 6
Didn’t happen for him on the night. Deliveries were alright and he was a calming influence around the middle when he controlled it but short of his standards.
Daryl Murphy 6
You have to feel sorry for him. Long night running channels and feeding off scraps and no-one seemed too keen to come up in support of him very often. He also got booked for getting kicked in the head.
Subs
Glenn Whelan 6
He’ll probably be in line to start the first leg of the playoffs now that Meyler is suspended.
Kevin Long 6
Didn’t get long but still produced a big header.
