This wasn’t the first time an England team picked Ireland’s pocket

There are enough years on my time machine to be able recall a soccer 1958 World Cup qualifier played at Dalymount Park in the late 1950s. The Republic of Ireland were out against England and needed to win to keep alive interest in the competition.

Just three countries were involved in the preliminaries, Denmark along with the Dalymount protagonists. Ireland had beaten Denmark at home, but were trounced at Wembley by England, who had also twice beaten the Danes, 5-1 and 4-1.

Goal difference didn’t count, with the result that if Ireland filled a very tall order and won this match, there’d be a play-off to see who would go to Sweden for the finals.

These were good times for sport in Ireland, and especially at local level. Ronnie Delany won gold at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, Louth senior footballers closed a 47-year gap by claiming the All-Ireland title, while Dundalk soccer team won the FAI Cup.

The town’s other representatives, the rugby team, won the Provincial Town’s Cup, and Clogherhead golfer, Philomena Garvey, became the first from Ireland to win the British Open.

There was nothing to suggest the international soccer team would muscle their way on to the honours list. To be drawn in the qualifiers with an England team that included some of the best players to wear the Three Lions, Billy Wright, Tom Finney and the Manchester United trio of Tommy Taylor, Duncan Edwards and Roger Byrne, among them, left Ireland with – well, will we use it? Yes – a mountain to climb.

After beating Denmark, Ireland had their first game against England at Wembley and it turned out to be a disaster, the home side winning 5-2. Now, with three wins on the trot, Blighty’s visit to Dalymount for their final qualifier was viewed as a formality.

It didn’t unfold like that. Showing several changes from Wembley, one of them seeing Tommy Goodwin taking over in goals from Alan Kelly, Ireland went at it from the word go, and were rewarded when Alf Ringstead netted after just three minutes.
From then to the finish the game was fought mostly in Ireland’s half, winning corner after corner. but a defence expertly marshalled by Charlie Hurley at No 5 with Shamrock Rovers’ Ronnie Nolan playing beside him, had the answer to everything

England could throw at them.
That was, until less than a minute from full-time. Finney took a run down the right, and with no-one – as we hear often nowadays – to “take one for the team”, “The Preston Plumber” was able to get in the neatest of crosses.

Johnny Atyeo was at the end of it, the Bristol City player having to only pick his spot with a glancing header. The 47,000 Dalymount fell silent. Throats had been cleared for one final blast of the famous “Roar” when the referee would blow the final whistle. What came instead was a muted shuffle to the gates.

We listened to the game on the wireless and were lost for words – so, too, was commentator, Philip Greene. Ireland wouldn’t be going to Sweden in the company of what’s known sometimes as the home countries, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland along with England.

Former Dundalk player, Newry-born Peter McParland, would star for Northern Ireland in the finals, and though acclaimed a hero, Atyeo wouldn’t play for England again., not even after the soon-to-follow Munich Disater, which claimed the lives of five in action that day at Dalymount.

No marks for knowing where this story is going to next – Twickenham, of course, on Saturday last, where Ireland renewed rivalry with the auld enemy, the rugby team aiming to not only clinch the Six-Nations, but keep alive hopes of an historic second successive Grand Slam win, and the Triple Crown that would go with it.

For Atyeo read Smith. The clock was in the red, Ireland leading by two points. England were throwing everything into attack, looking for a score, any score, that would give them victory. Ireland defended stoutly, but were rash, conceding a penalty. This was out near the sideline, at a very difficult angle.

The referee played on, and Ireland conceded another penalty, this one in front of the posts. At that, Ireland’s fate was all but sealed. But the scoreboard remained unchanged – the ref was allowing play to continue.

After several scrimmages near the line, the ball was played to Marcus Smith, straight in front of goals, and borrowing from the Ronan O’Gara’s book of game-savers, Smith was unerring as he planted his kick straight between the posts.

A question to those better versed in the rules of the game than me: If Bundi Aki had been successful in his attempt to block Smith’s kick and an Irish player then won possession and sprinted all the way to score a try, would it have counted, or would the ref have called play back and given England the penalty they were due? Just asking.

Somewhere in my mind is another occasion when England picked Ireland’s pocket with a very late score.
I can’t remember if it was at Lansdowne or Twickenham, but full-back, Bob Hiller, was the kicker, converting a match-winning penalty from out near the sideline and at a very acute angle.

The consequences of defeat weren’t as dire for the Ireland team on Saturday as they were for the soccer lads back of the late 1950s – it’s just that it was made look like it, the England team and supporters celebrating in World Cup-winning fashion.

It says much for how high up Ireland are the pecking order that next weekend’s final game with Scotland, at The Aviva will have a big prize on offer, but still something missing.