Ireland’s win over Finland echoes 1990s nostalgia as Kelleher saves the day

THE gear they were wearing in an attempt to flog was supposedly based around 1994.

What we saw on the pitch had more of a 1990 feeling, right down to Caoimhín Kelleher’s penalty save, although Packie Bonner did not have to worry about gathering the rebound.

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If you were trying to cash in on it being the 30^th anniversary of one of Ireland’s three appearances at a World Cup, you might have expected it to make an appearance before the penultimate month of the year.

Liam Scales did his best to talk up the naff white shellsuits beforehand, saying he liked the retro gear but also adding the more telling line ‘this is what we were told to wear’.

For the warm-up, it was into grandad’s old pyjama top, a more orthodox jacket for the anthems before, finally, they stripped down to their white shirts.

And, to be fair, they did conjure up memories of a dehydrated Tommy Coyne and an agitated John Aldridge

But, in the game itself, it was other strikers who came to mind.

Niall Quinn missed out on USA’ 94 completely through injury whilst Tony Cascarino was only fit enough to manage 16 minutes, in their second-round game against Holland in which they bowed out of the competition.

Their absence robbed Jack Charlton’s side of one of their most obvious threats and since their respective retirements, Ireland have never really found someone to fill their boots.

There is, of course, a lot more to Evan Ferguson than being simply a targetman. Look at his sliderule pass to a barely offside Sammie Szmodics for a goal that was disallowed as an example.

But it is one of the strings to his bow. And, after Mikey Johnston performed his audition for Riverdance on the right win before setting the ball up towards the far post Ferguson bustled his way between both Robert Ivanov and Matti Peltola to head home.

It was only his second goal of 2024 – much of which has been interrupted by an ankle injury – and his first in nine games for his country stretching back to October 2023.

But let’s not forget he is still only 20.  In a few years’ time people of his age will not be able to buy cigarettes in this country.

Kelleher is older but this is proving to be a coming-of-age season, concurrent injuries to Gavin Bazunu and Alisson allowing him to show his worth for both club and country.

His mistake against Greece came only after he had been named man of the match. His value was once again underlined when he batted away Joel Pohjanpalo’s spot-kick with 13 minutes to go.

The noise which greeted the goal and the save were comparable, Ferguson breathing a sigh of relief as it was he who had been penalised – after a VAR check – for a handball.

Both players are going to have a huge say in what Ireland do over the next decade but the immediate focus is a trip to Wembley on Sunday.

There was a time when some, ill-informed, people in England thought they might be able to prise the Brighton striker from our grasp, on account of his mother Sarah hailing from there.

Now, he will bid to show them what they are missing, having come on leaps and bounds in his recovery from injury compared to his cameo against them here in September when he got his first eight minutes of the season.

The formation was also a throwback with Heimir Hallgrímsson as unconcerned about modern trends and fashions at the designers in Castore.

The 4-4-2 shape was not, of itself, a surprise given Ireland had also lined out that way against Greece in Piraeus last month.

But the fact it was Szmodics – rather than Troy Parrott – who teamed up with Ferguson was not flagged with his presumed role on the left wing instead going to Johnston.

On the opposite flank, Festy Ebosele was handed the role of trying to fill the void left by the injured Chiedozie Ogbene, named as Ireland’s Player of the Year before kick-off.

The two wide players’ styles could not be any more different. Ebosele is a modern-day athlete, his physical strength capable of opening gaps where they did not appear to exist, as he did to tee up Robbie Brady for his winner in Helsinki.

The West Brom man is every bit as jinky as another former Celtic winger with the almost identical surname.

He went close in the second half after cutting in from the right, soon after Ferguson had narrowly missed getting his head on the end of another cross, this time from Szmodics.

DOC RETURNS

However, it was the sight of Matt Doherty in the starting XI which was the most improbable of them all, not least because he had not been picked in the original squad a week previously.

In theory, it was the withdrawal of Séamus Coleman which resulted in his late addition but the Everton man had also been missing last month when he was first excluded.

Dara O’Shea had played at right-back in the last window but has been nursing a back problem with Doherty starting instead.

The Wolves player was involved in some good build-up play whilst also going close to scoring with a header at the back post but, in the event, Ireland had to be content with the one goal.

Given how the woodwork – along with Nathan Collins’ outstretched foot and subsequent header – came to their rescue in the first half, and Kelleher after the break, there was some good fortune involved in that being sufficient to win the game.

If Ireland give up as many chances as they did here against Lee Carsley’s side, the hosts will win comfortably.

But, for now, given Ireland had endured a run of just 11 wins in their previous 50 competitive matches prior to their win in Helsinki last month, whether it’s Meatloaf or Ferguson’s neat loaf, two out of three ain’t bad.