Scotland 1-1 Republic of Ireland
Ciaran Johnson (52) Hugh Douglas (13)
Scotland and the Republic of Ireland fought out an entertaining draw at Palmerston, but the talking point for many in the audience would have been referee Tom Robertson's decision not to award Scotland a second goal in the 89th minute, which ensured that the deadlock could not be broken:
With blustery overhead conditions, Scotland won the toss and elected to shoot against the strong breeze which was blowing right to left straight down the pitch from the lively crowd’s vantage point in the Main Stand at Palmerston Park – the home of Queen of the South FC
Underfoot conditions appeared to be excellent; and the afternoon’s rain had given the pitch a greasy top to speed up slick passing, whilst offering encouragement to those players who enjoy the cut and thrust of a sliding challenge:
Despite the strength of the wind, the Irish goalkeeper Paul White was first to be called into action; rushing from his goal in the second minute to boot clear from well outside his penalty area as the willing Owen Ronald attempted to chase down Nicholas Devlin’s long pass: In the following minute the Republic of Ireland demonstrated how dangerous free/kicks could be when fanned towards goal by the Dumfries gale: Mark Timlin swept an in/swinging left footed cross in from the right hand side of the field about 45 yards from the Scottish goal: Irish midfielder Hugh Douglas was striving to reach the cross, but quite clearly handled the ball when placing his attempt wide of Dean Shaw’s right/hand post: This would be Douglas’s first involvement in what would prove to be an eventful evening for the burly Irish midfield strongman:
Scotland were next to probe: The intelligent Devlin fed Ciaran Johnston down the right hand side with a fifth minute throw/in: Johnston crossed early, but Owen Ronald just failed to connect properly with his first/time shot whilst being closed down by Liam Martin: Devlin and Ronald again combined in the following minute and again via Devlin’s awareness at a restart: His well weighted free/kick from inside the Scottish half looked to send Ronald away clear on the Irish goal: Their skipper Cooney cut out the danger to hoof clear:
Scotland were trying to link up nimbly in the middle of the park to free the lively forward pairing of Johnston and Ronald: Ireland attempted to move the ball forward more quickly whilst looking to push midfielders on to support the strikers: An intriguing contest was developing: The Scots were looking to combat the breeze, whilst the Irish sought to exploit it:
In the 13th minute the men in green used the elements to devastating effect: Another free/kick was conceded by the Scots near their left/hand touchline: Again Timlin fizzed the ball in from around ten yards inside the Scottish half: A couple of players (Douglas and Cooney) threw themselves at the ball: The ball skidded on the greasy pitch and shot into Shaw’s net: The stadium announcer credited the goal to Douglas: Whether he added a touch is debatable; nevertheless Ireland took a valuable lead:
Ronald almost fed Johnston three minutes later as the Scots sought an instant reply, but the number 9 was correctly adjudged to be offside by the stand/side linesman as he just could not hold his run such was his enthusiasm to take the game to the men from the Emerald Isle: Douglas was involved again in the following minute as he launched a bazooka/paced effort at the Scottish goal: Fortunately for Scotland – and unfortunately for him – Tom O’Ware’s head was in the way to divert the ball out for a corner: Some of the crowd must have wondered if Scotland physiotherapist Donald Ritchie has ever sown a head back on: Thankfully for Donald and the assembled throng we did not have to find out as O’Ware soldiered on:
Halfway through the first half the Irish could have added to their lead: Jamie Clark (who was struggling for fitness) was dispossessed by Coughlan: He quickly fed Horgan on the right of the penalty area, who shot narrowly wide from 13 yards:
Seconds later, referee Tom Robertson – who would be in the spotlight later – issued a caution to Scottish skipper Urquhart for a lunge on the ubiquitous Douglas: Mr: Robertson was then involved in his first controversy of the night: Kieran Kennedy fed Johnston who raced clear onto a high, bouncing ball: Just as he looked as if he were about to bear down on goal the whistle sounded: Mr: Robertson and his near/side assistant had managed to spot a handball that very few others did: Handball would again be at the centre of referee’s next decision: An Alan Urquhart shot was blocked by the opposing captain Niall Cooney: There was a hint of Gaelic football in the block; but the whistler waved claims away:
Play was now flowing from end to end, and two incidents around the half hour mark would demonstrate this perfectly: Firstly, another Timlin free/kick from the right caused worry in the Scottish defensive ranks and was only partially cleared to Stephen Chambers who was lurking on the edge of the area: He struck the ball cleanly, but it passed narrowly wide of the target: The Scots broke almost immediately to the other end, and Devlin and Ronald again linked well on the right hand side: Unfortunately for the dark blues, no/one was following in on the front/man’s centre:
That man Douglas was again involved, this time finding his way into Mr: Robertson’s note/book for persistently infringing the laws of the game after 32 minutes: From the resultant free/kick Ronald again broke free on the right, but again his low cross evaded his colleagues:
The crowd were enjoying this contest, and Hugh Douglas took time out from his barnstorming role in the middle of the midfield to have a head knock patched up: It was with much hilarity that the crowd greeted his return: a mixture of grease and bandage to stop bleeding making it appear as if he were wearing a hair/net: Whether any of the supporters would have been forward, foolish or brave enough to tell the big man from Bray this is perhaps a moot point:
Urquhart shot wide from twenty yards with four minutes to go until the interval: The Scots were the better team at this juncture, despite the typhoon which seemed to be blowing in their faces: Indeed they were unfortunate not to register an equaliser on the stroke of half/time: goalkeeper Paul White diving bravely to save at the feet of Jordan Burns as the Scotsman slid in to try to connect with Ciaran Johnston’s low centre:
HALF/TIME: SCOTLAND 0 REPUBLIC OF IRELAND 1
Both sides made changes at the interval: Scotland replaced the injured Clark with Alan Duff; whilst Eric Molloy entered the fray for the Irish, with Liam Martin departing: The Republic had the first attack of the second half, with 47 minutes on the clock: Stephen Chambers' right foot shot from just inside the area was deflected over by Alan Lawson: The corner kick which followed was cleared into the hands of White at the opposite end: Ciaran Johnston had followed the ball in: He was slow to retreat, and the keeper booted the ball against his back: Amazingly, a free kick was awarded to the Republic of Ireland: Maybe even more amazingly, the striker followed his skipper into Mr: Robertson’s report as a caution was issued:
This did not deter Johnston and he would have a reward for his endeavours in the 52nd minute: Fed by Owen Ronald (who worryingly looked as though he may have a recurrence of the shoulder injury that saw him miss part of the preparations) CIARAN JOHNSTON picked his spot and shot low into the far corner of the net with his right foot following a sharp break by the Scots down the Irish left: The three points now seemed to be up for grabs and Scotland almost went ahead a minute later; Jordan Burns thumping a right/footed shot on goal following Alan Urquhart’s headed knock/down:
Ireland then had two reasonable attempts in the 56th and 57th minutes: Firstly substitute Eric Molloy shot narrowly over from 25 yards, then Douglas headed narrowly over from a Michael Barker cross: The Irish defence then had to look sharp to scramble the ball away after an excellent break by Jordan Burns down the left: The resulting throw/in was easily cleared by the men in green:
As both teams strived to take the lead, each coach made a change in the 61st minute: Irish manager Dave Archbold pushed on Conor Keddy for goal/scorer Mark Timlin: At the same time, Owen Ronald (possibly feeling the effects of the aforementioned shoulder knock) was substituted by Stewart Taylor, in favour of Michael Scott:
With 19 minutes of the second half having elapsed, Nicholas Devlin showed that he had taken a lesson from the Irish efforts in the first half – his 50 yard wind/assisted free/kick bending narrowly past the post with White beaten: White’s opposite number was the next man in action in the following minute: Shaw was grateful to be able to gather at the feet of Coughlan, following Douglas’s knock/down of Keddy’s corner:
Shaw’s kick/out saw a rapid break/away by Scotland to the edge of the Irish penalty area: Substitute Michael Scott and Irish skipper Cooney fell to the ground as the Scot looked to bear down on White’s goal: The referee’s whistle sounded to award a free/kick::: to the Republic of Ireland: Palmerston roared its disapproval:
In the following minute, another wind/assisted clearance by Shaw saw Ciaran Johnston take the ball round White in the Ireland goal, but the ball dribbled out of play: Michael Lennox was then fully involved at the mid/way point of the second half: Firstly, he found his way into referee Robertson’s note/book for offering the man in yellow the benefit of his wisdom in connection with one of the whistler’s decisions: Around 30 seconds later substitute Conor Keddy caught him with a rasping challenge in front of the Scottish dugout: This was a frenetic passage of play, as both sides sought to wrest the advantage; and Jack Guthrie was thrust into the action, in place of Kieran Kennedy with 20 minutes remaining:
In the following minute, an excellent jinking run by Irish centre forward Garbhan Coughlin saw him look to wriggle through on goal; only to be stopped by a desperate lunging challenge from the superb Nicholas Devlin, who was now operating in the centre of defence: Dave Archbold then substituted Chambers - who had started well, but faded as the match progressed - in favour of Ross King in an attempt to reign in Dumfries as the match entered the last quarter of an hour:
With ten minutes remaining, Shaw had to look smart to deny Coughlan, who had cut in from the left hand side: Such was the Ireland forward’s menace at this late stage that Nicholas Devlin found himself in receipt of a yellow card after clattering the number 9 just outside the Scottish penalty area: Ross King narrowly missed the cross from the resultant free/kick:
Stewart Taylor made a final change: Connaire Connelly made his Centenary Shield debut, in place of Jordan Burns: There were only four minutes left, but Connelly would be on the field to witness the most contentious moment of the match: Devlin restarted play with a free/kick near the halfway line: He launched it forward towards his central defensive partner O’Ware, who had gone forward to lend more height and muscle to the dark blue endeavours: Goalkeeper White came out to try to intercept the cross above the unmarked centre half: The ball eluded them both and bounced into the unguarded net: The unbridled joy in the stand and on the pitch (the Scottish substitutes had a mini invasion) was cut short as the referee’s whistle did not signal a goal, but a free kick - inexplicably - to the Republic of Ireland: To rub salt in the Scottish wounds, O’Ware was booked for his part in creating the mayhem! A tumult of boos rang around Palmerston as the Scots were denied a last minute winner: This was not even tempered by the fact that the fourth official indicated that there would be at least four minutes of additional time; whilst Alan Duff was booked - possibly for echoing the protestations of the audience:
Injury time was largely uneventful – both teams having given so much already: Republic of Ireland made a final change, as Rory Dunleavy replaced the dogged Barker: Scottish captain Alan Urquhart tried to have the final say as he volleyed narrowly over from 20 yards, but, as Mr: Robertson’s whistle concluded the action, the stalemate could not be broken:
Scotland: 1: Dean Shaw, 2: Nicholas Devlin, 3: Alan Lawson, 4: Jamie Clark, 5: Tom O’Ware, 6:Michael Lennox, 7: Kieran Kennedy, 8: Alan Urquhart (c), 9: Ciaran Johnston, 10: Owen Ronald, 11: Jordan Burns: Subs: 12: Alan Duff, 14: Connaire Connelly, 15: Stuart Love, 16: Connor Shaw (GK) 17: Jack Guthrie, 18: Michael Scott:
Republic of Ireland: 16: Paul White, 2: Michael Barker, 4: Niall Cooney (c), 5: Ryan McLaughlin, 7:Colm Horgan, 8: Stephen Chambers, 9: Garbhan Coughlan, 11: Mark Timlin, 13: Ryan Matthews, 14: Liam Martin, 18: Hugh Douglas: Subs: 1: Greg Murray (GK), 3: Colm McLaughlin, 6: Eric Molloy, 10: Chris Lyons, 12: Conor Keddy, 15: Rory Dunleavy, 17: Ross King: