And with that, we shall bring this whole sorry business to an end. Thanks for reading, and good night. Be safe out there.
Well, not a good game, on several levels, for both teams. A point is better than nothing but not great for Wales, plus Bale will be suspended for their next game against group leaders Serbia, who they’re now four points behind. And of course for Ireland, they have to deal with a horrible injury to Seamus Coleman, sustained after that reckless foul by Taylor. Sorry to report that the initial impressions suggest we’re talking Eduardo, Ramsey, Henrik Larsson territory. Would not recommend watching it.
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Full-time: Ireland 0-0 Wales
Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
90 mins + 3: McGeady jinks down the left, stands a cross up to the back stick where Long heads...but there’s a crowd of defenders in the way to block it. The ball then loops up in the air, and Hennessey almost makes a mess of things with a shambolic attempt at a punch.
90 mins + 1: Strong few seconds for McGeady - he concedes a goal-kick with a needlessly elaborate bit of skill in the Wales box, then half-barges into the referee in protest, earning himself a booking. Not the smartest thing he’ll ever do.
90 mins: Christie chucks a long throw into the box, hoping to create a little chaos, but nothing comes of it. Another cross comes over, it looks to be an easy take for Hennessey but he drops the thing - luckily for him Williams was there to mop up.
88 mins: Wales win a corner on the left after an iffy header back by Christie. Ramsey curls it in, finds the head of Bale but he’s twisting and heavily marked, and can only send it wide.
86 mins: McGeady tries to conjure something for Ireland, jinking in from the left and shooting with his right foot, but the effort goes comfortably over in the end. Nice skill though.
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85 mins: Bale goes inches away from giving Wales the lead! He wins the ball on the right and drives towards goal, shooting with his left foot and it just, just, just tails away and misses the post by a fraction of a hair.
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83 mins: Bale a very lucky puppy to still be on the pitch - he goes for a ball with McClean, but he puts his boot into his opponent’s chest while doing so. Already on a yellow, he could quite easily have been given another there.
82 mins: Not a brilliant night for Everton, this. First James McCarthy off in the warm-up, now Coleman is going to be out for quite some time...
79 mins: Well at least someone is having a nice time...
Un po' di relax..🏝😎 pic.twitter.com/LZOezUzkp6
— Andrea Pirlo (@Pirlo_official) March 24, 2017
78 mins: Sub for Ireland, as Aidan McGeady replaces Meyler.
76 mins: A few nominations for the least-likely tunes for football chants:
- “The most unlikely tune for a footy chant is probably Guantanamera, the Sandpipers’ hit based on Cuba’s most popular folk song. Not only is Cuba not really big on football, but it’s about a woman from Guantánamo, rather than One Liam Brady or whoever (two Andy Gorhams)!” - Justin Kavanagh
- “I see Niall Mullen is bored - aren’t we all - so my take for the most unlikely song melody for a football chant has to be the Bonzos’ I’m Bored, although the lyrics are quite apt” - Michael Cosgrove.
74 mins: McClean goes close, and everyone thought it was in! The ball falls to McClean in the area - he shoots with his left but scuffs it a bit, and it rebound back to him. He then shoots with his right, and that one is deflected just, just, just wide of the post.
73 mins: The question, from the boy Hurrey here...
Can game of football this bad still be marred?
— Adam Hurrey (@FootballCliches) March 24, 2017
72 mins: Coleman is taken off in tears, replaced by Derby’s Cyrus Christie. Wales make a change too, as Jazz Richards comes on for Joe Ledley.
70 mins: This looks really bad. The TV cameras mercifully aren’t zooming in on Coleman’s leg, but the Irish players reacted in that way players only do when it’s a really, really serious injury. Coleman gets some oxygen, and is actually loaded onto a stretcher reasonably quickly.
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RED CARD! Taylor sent off
Well, immediately after that possible red, an actual red. Taylor absolutely steams into a challenge on Coleman, going in high, late and recklessly, and it’s an immediate sending off.
68 mins: Gunter gets down the right, puts in a low cross which Bale slides towards. O’Shea gets there first, but Bale’s raised studs connect with O’Shea’s shin. He’s booked, meaning he’s suspended for the game against Serbia. Bad news for Wales.
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66 mins: Walters heads a cross away, straight onto Taylor’s head, and the ball nearly loops over Randolph. That might have been fitting for this game. Meanwhile Niall Mullen is trying to distract us from the long lonely path to the infinite: “Of course “Those Were The Days” is the tune Ireland fans use for “Come on you boys in green”. What is the most unlikely song to have provided the melody for a football chant? Go West? Volare? Sloop John B? Yes I’m bored.”
64 mins: A scrappy passage in the Ireland area leads to the ball falling for Vokes in the area, and he stabs at a shot, but it goes wide. Not really improving, this.
62 mins: ....no. McClean hits the...well, shot, I guess, straight into the wall. The ball eventually breaks to Long on the edge of the box, but his shot goes well wide.
61 mins: Now then. Allen has a little nibble at his clubmate Walters and trips him on the right corner of the area. Can they do anything from this...?
60 mins: A corner for Ireland, and the ball rebounds off...someone, and dribbles wide. This is a bad game of football, as Dermot O’Reilly will tell you: “This is one of the worst Irish performances I have seen in a long time, and I’ve seen a few. Bring on the young lad Horgan.”
58 mins: Bale cuts in from the right and skims over a cross...but it’s too strong and drifts out. Meanwhile, Whelan is back on with the Butcher/Ince bandages around his head.
57 mins: McClean strikes the free-kick, but straight into the wall.
56 mins: Blood drawn. Ramsey and Whelan go for the ball in the middle, but the latter put his foot up to thigh-height and the latter his head down to thigh-height. The result, a boot to the noggin, claret from Whelan’s forehead and a yellow card for Ramsey.
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55 mins: Bale crosses from the right, but that’s far too close to the keeper. Were those sparks of interest in the opening minutes just a tease?
51 mins: As the trumpeter in the crowd strikes up a rendition of ‘Those Were The Days’, Taylor gets down the right, cuts back on his left foot and finds Taylor in the box, but his header is weak and ill-directed. Meanwhile, the trumpeter only just makes it til the end of the song.
49 mins: Bale’s warming up. He shifts the ball to his left, then lets fly from a slightly odd angle and it zips just wide of the post, Randolph nowhere near that one.
48 mins: Wales get a free-kick for a handball by McClean, about 25 yards out on the right: or, as we’re obliged to call it, Gareth Bale Territory. Bale steps up, hits one of those knuckleball free-kicks which wobbles around in the air like nobody’s business, but is straight enough for Randolph to gather, at the second attempt.
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47 mins: “I was ignoring the blatant trolling,” ignores Robin Hazlehurst, “but since you mention it rugby apparently does Wales-Ireland better than football. Cracking match between them a month ago, with tension, excitement, flashes of skill leading to the scoring and absolutely full-on commitment. Oh and well-behaved fans and respect for the ref etc, but that is a given.” I’d invite you to consult with the residents of Twickenham about the fans point.
46 mins: We’re away for the second-half. Some rip-roaring football ahoy?
A change at half-time, as Wales bring Sam Vokes on for Robson-Kanu. Can he make this game interesting?
Erm. Yeah. Well. Not...not brilliant, that.
Half-time: Ireland 0-0 Wales
Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
45 mins: Naughty from Glenn Whelan - he and Allen go in for a challenge together, and the former leaves his arm just a little high and catches his club colleague just under the chin. Words had between the two pals.
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44 mins: Bale seems to be limping a bit. Oh dear.
42 mins: Williams clears, and Long leaves a foot in after the ball had gone. Long gets a talking to by the ref, but words continue between the two players. Perhaps a low-level fight will spark this game a bit.
41 mins: File this one under “not a classic” so far.
40 mins: The ball strikes Davies’s hand in the area, from an Ireland corner, but he was looking the other way, the ball having just gone through his legs. No chance of a penalty.
39 mins: Amazed it took 39 minutes for someone to write this email. Good evening, Richard Reed: “Always love the Welsh National Anthem, but thats the only thing rugby has on football? What about a modicum of respect for referees? What about the lack of trying to cheat the referee and throwing yourself on the ground to get the other player sent off? What about tv replays? Football has a lot of catching up to do...that said, if Bale trips over his feet anywhere near the penalty area I’ll be screaming for a penalty.”
38 mins: Potentially great chance for Wales, as Ramey wins the ball from Hendrick then spreads it inside to Bale, but unusually he takes a dreadful first touch, and the ball squirts away, attack over.
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36 mins: Ramsey has been holding his throat, oddly. Not sure what happened but he had a few words to say to the referee. Presumably the ref didn’t chop him in the thorax...although you never know.
35 mins: Suddenly there’s a bit of noise in the crowd at Lansdowne Road as the home crowd rise to get themselves going a little. The game could do with it, most definitely.
34 mins: On the respect thing, Alex Brown has the following to say: “I know it’s sacrilege to comment on this, but last November I stood through seven two minute silences for Remembrance Day / Sunday / weekend before / weekend after. Five at football and rugby matches. Every sporting organisation now regards this as essential. It simply isn’t. Just play football.”
32 mins: Hendrick plays a neat little pass which splits the Wales defence, but it’s got just too much juice on it for Long to get, and it goes through to Hennessey in the Welsh goal.
31 mins: Chester goes through the back of Long, but much to the chagrin of the home crowd the referee doesn’t give a free-kick. The ball breaks to Bale who tries to forge a path towards goal, but he is challenged before he gets there.
29 mins: After giving it the big build-up, this one has been a bit of a ‘fart in the bath’ of a game. Apologies.
26 mins: Corner to Wales, and Randolph is fairly lucky to get away with floundering under the cross, as the referee deems Robson-Kanu standing still in the six-yard box to be a foul on the goalie.
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23 mins: My days. 23 minutes of mediocrity then Bale pulls out the most sensational pass - deep on the right, back to goal, with little ostensibly on, he spun and fizzed a left-footed pass over the heads of the defenders and into the path of Taylor on the left side of the box, but it took a spicy bounce in front of the left wing-back and he couldn’t control it. One of those where Wales needed Bale on the end of Bale’s pass to make anything of it.
21 mins: ....no. The cross wasn’t great, it broke out to Whelan who approached his shot like a man with a crocodile in his back garden, and made a tentative mess of it all.
20 mins: Ramsey has a chop at McClean, and a free-kick to Ireland out on the left. Could this be something...
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18 mins: Not a massive amount happening in the game so let’s discuss Respect Etiquette. “I’ve clearly become a grumpy old man but the minute’s applause just doesn’t sit right,” writes Niall Mullen. “The minute’s silence was appropriately sombre & reflective when someone died. My recollection is that it changed to applause because a sizeable minority of empty vessels continued to make noise.”
16 mins: Scrappy. Davies launches one downfield vaguely towards Robson-Kanu, but it’s far too strong and sails out of play.
14 mins: Couple of corners for Wales, Ledley taking both, but neither come to anything. These two sides just feeling each other out for the time being.
12 mins: Whelan clips it to the back post, where Keogh takes a ride on Chris Gunter’s back and is penalised. Speaking of Keogh...
Not interested in any kit launch photos that don't feature Richard Keogh. pic.twitter.com/8CrZqXc9De
— Nick Miller (@NickMiller79) July 8, 2016
11 mins: Williams barges into the back of Walters as they go for a header about 40 yards from the Welsh goal, and after a brief pause to see if there was any advantage, a free-kick is given.
8 mins: Bale spies a bit of space as he gets the ball about 35 yards from goal and the Irish defence visibly sink back. However, Bale takes the ball out to the left, tries to clip a cross over to Robson-Kanu but it’s too long and flies out for a goal-kick.
6 mins: Coleman nearly puts his goalkeeper in some mither with a ropey backpass, but Randolph manages to dance his way out of it and clear, with Bale bearing down on him.
5 mins: McClean goes in pretty hard on Bale, but times the tackle just right - trouble for all parties if he’d got that wrong, but robust challenges on the Real Madrid man might be a theme of the evening.
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3 mins: Wales win a free-kick out on the right, put into the box by Bale. It breaks out to Ramsey on the edge of the box, but his looping chipped cross to the back post is caught by Randolph in nets.
2 mins: Ireland could potentially have played a 4-4-2 here, but it looks like a 4-5-1 with Jon Walters out on the right and Shane Long on his own up top.
1 min: And we’re away. Ireland in the traditional green and white, Wales in all red.
A minute’s applause now, for Ryan McBride, the Derry captain who died suddenly last week. James McClean is wearing No.5 as a tribute to him, and was at McBride’s funeral yesterday. The tribute also recognised Ray Brady, Ireland international and brother of Liam, who also passed away recently.
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Absolute banger this, mind. And probably the only thing that rugby does better than football.
Sorry to report that a Welshman just dabbed during their national anthem.
BREAKING TEAM NEWS
James McCarthy was only deemed capable of playing in this one after a late fitness test, but that doesn’t seem to have been especially thorough - he’s suffered an injury in the warm-up, so David Meyler takes his place in midfield.
Let’s have some music from both camps, shall we? Specifically indie-ish stuff from the late 1990s/early 2000s.
Representing Wales, we have Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, with Patio Song...
...and for Ireland, here’s JJ72, with October Swimmer...
A result from the other game tonight in this group - Serbia have beaten Georgia 3-1, thanks to goals from Dusan Tadic, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Mijat Gacinovic. That’s put them top of the table for the time being - a win for Ireland will usurp them, but if Wales prevail then the top three teams will be separated by just two points.
Let’s go right back to the beginning with these two. The first game between Wales and Ireland (back then a ‘united’ Ireland) was back in 1882, and the Welsh cantered to a 7-1 victory in that one, held in Wrexham. The last time they faced each other in a competitive game was in 2007, when Jason Koumas starred for Wales. Blimey.
As for Ireland, James McCarthy has passed a late fitness test, but beyond that it’s fairly ugly, injuries-wise. Shane Duffy, Ciaran Clark, Harry Arter, Wes Hoolahan, Daryl Murphy, Rob Elliot, Paul McShane and Liam Kelly are all injured, Robbie Brady is suspended but Seamus Coleman and Shane Long, who missed some training in the week, are both fit to start.
So that’s the same Wales XI that started that game against Belgium in the summer, the first time Chris Coleman has been able to name his strongest team since. Go on then, here’s that goal...
Team news
Republic of Ireland
Randolph; Coleman, Keogh, O’Shea, Ward; McClean, Whelan, McCarthy, Hendrick; Walters, Long. Subs: Westwood, C. Doyle, McGeady, K. Doyle, Horgan, Christie, Egan, Hourihane, Meyler, Hayes, O’Dowda, Pearce.
Wales
Hennessey; Davies, Chester, Williams (C); Gunter, Allen, Ramsey, Ledley, Taylor; Bale; Robson-Kanu. Subs: Ward, Fon Williams, Collins, Walsh, Macdonald, King, Richards, Edwards, Vokes, Wilson, Bradshaw, Woodburn.
Referee: Niccola Rizzoli (Italy)
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Preamble
Evening. Qualifying campaigns are very often rather tiresome affairs. Each team plays ten games, and more often than not eight of them aren’t especially interesting. The whole thing isn’t especially interesting, really. Which is why we should embrace it when a genuinely interesting game comes along, as this is.
Forgetting the ‘local derby’ aspect of it, these are two teams on the up, one perhaps a little more advanced than the other, but one in better form than the other. One has a genuinely world-class player, the other the a more experienced and decorated manager. And there are things at stake in the group. Ireland currently top Group D but Wales, after a slightly iffy start which saw them take just the one win from their opening four games, are still only four points back in third place.
The big unknown in this game is what sort of team Ireland will be able to put out, given the number of injuries and suspensions they are dealing with. Of course, that won’t be an unknown for too long. Stick around, this could be a smasher.
Kick-off: 19.45 GMT.
Nick will be here shortly. Here’s Stuart James on what will be a poignant night for Chris Coleman, whatever the outcome:
When all the drama is over at the Aviva Stadium late on Friday evening, following a World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland that Wales can ill-afford to lose, Chris Coleman will find a quiet moment to enjoy a pint of Guinness and remember his late father, who was born and raised in Dublin and passed away a little more than three years ago.
Paddy Coleman died in December 2013, aged 74, and it was an emotional journey that his three children made to Dublin to scatter his ashes on the river Liffey, close to one of the city’s most famous watering holes and in a country that was always close to his heart.
“I took my two sisters over and Charlotte [my wife] came with me when we did it,” Coleman said. “It was his request. He always said: ‘Make sure that you do it there.’ So we did it outside the Brazen Head pub next to the river Liffey, which is the oldest pub in Dublin. It dates back to 1198 and the history is incredible and unbelievable. I thought it was poignant.”
Born in East Wall, Coleman’s father spent the first 20 years of his life in Dublin – Michael, his brother, still works as an artist in the Temple Bar area – before moving to south Wales. “He lived in Swansea for 50 years, he still had his Dublin accent and never changed,” said Coleman, smiling. “I used to take him back most summers for a few days. He would have a little roam around where he was brought up.”
