Irish Daily Mail International Rules Series, First Test:
Australia (0-14-5) 47
Ireland (1-8-10) 40

A LATE GOAL by Bernard Brogan gave Ireland a fighting chance to retain the Cormac McEnallen Cup on a rainy night in Limerick, lighting up a drab affair that had seen Australia assert certain authority over the 2010 International Rules Series.

The Dubliner’s goal, five minutes from time, came after an uninspiring fixture saw the visitors settle, battle and gel with greater competence – and gave Ireland an unlikely lifeline when it seemed their opponents were in danger of finishing the series in one night.

Brogan’s goal aside, the game could have been likened in intensity and competitiveness to an underwhelming 0-0 draw in soccer. When both ingredients in this hybrid game can be more reliably expected to produce more pulsating encounters, however, the game will have left many of the Limerick crowd feeling a touch anticlimactic.

Slow starting

Coach Anthony Tohill’s instruction that his side pull ahead before the visitors got to grips with the sphere went apparently unheeded, as the first quarter began slowly – both sides apparently more content to seek the measure of each other in wet conditions.

Ireland’s early tactic of long balls directly to Bernard Brogan and Tommy Walsh up front was one for which Australia were evidently prepared – the Dublin and St Kilda forwards being ably man-marked by the visitors’ rearguard.

As the game began to find its groove it was the Australians who seemed to find more ease with the slippery round ball, kicking four early overs as a majority Ireland’s chances strayed behind to sit 12-9 ahead at the first 18-minute interval.

Missed opportunities

The second period, however, began with a far greater bang – the amended tactic of pursuing shorter, over-lapping hand passes causing more than one goalmouth scare in the Australian net, though again Ireland were left wanting with the ability to pierce the blanket Australian defence and the confident hands of netminder Dustin Fletcher.

The experienced hands of Tadhg Kennelly and Seán Kavanagh were unable to bring Ireland on terms, with shots that either would have expected to point in their native code sailing behind to narrow the gap to one. The visitors, on their rarer forays forward, were unable to convert – one Jack Riewoldt free dropping aimlessly into the hands of Cluxton.

Ultimately Ireland’s short-ball tactics began to reap more concrete rewards – Daniel Goulding setting up Colm Begley to score Ireland’s first over of the quarter and hand the hosts a three-point lead. Visiting captain and man-of-the-match Adam Goodes, however, was not long in restoring parity (however briefly – Ireland sneaking ahead once more almost immediately) with seven minutes to go before half-time.

Australia nipped ahead once more with 90 seconds to go through Carlton’s Adam Betts, before Todd Banfield of the Brisbane Lions struck an added-time free off the post and over to give the Australians a five-point advantage at half-time, (0-7-0) 21 to (0-3-7) 16.

Up-tempo hopes dashed

The semi-saturated support at the Gaelic Grounds would have hoped for a slightly more up-tempo second half, but such hopes were to go unanswered, and then some. The third quarter (known as ‘the Premiership Quarter’ down under for its traditional intensity) went without a score for almost a full ten minutes: Ireland’s Michael Murphy missed a chance to score after manufacturing space in the left corner, only for his carefully-aimed short to fall short for Fletcher, while Australia missed chances of their own, settling for behinds when better options beckoned.

It wasn’t until 11 minutes into the half that Tommy Walsh slotted over a routine chance, though the six-point cushioned was immediately restored by his St Kilda teammate Leigh Montagna.

With the quarter timing down, Eddie Betts and Montagna again stretched the lead to 12 – each keeping solid composure to make the best of a few yards’ space – while Kade Simpson made it 13 before a wonderful Leighton Glynn mark under pressure in the final minute brought the deficit back to 10 as the hooter sounded for three-quarter time.

The final period brought little comfort for the hosts, who now needed a flurry of overs – if not more – to give themselves a chance in the Croke Park second leg. Instead, it was the visitors who finally grasped their fair share of possession and converted it to five points within the opening five minutes, to lead 37-22 before Glynn fired over to bring the deficit back to a dozen.

Then came a let-off for Ireland. With the backs ballwatching, Matthew Boyd located Goodes, whose powerful fisted show past an underprepared Cluxton shot crashed off the crossbar – and, thankfully, lofted over the bar. Patrick Dangerfield followed up with an over of his own.

Ireland captain Steven McDonnell took three of his own as Ireland sought any means possible to stay within reach of the low-octane affair, but his counterpart Goodes nullified the score quickly – and put another free kick shortly afterward bewilderingly wide as Australia pushed to quell any fightback.

Shot to the net – and shot in the arm

It was then that the fightback came – Brogan, anonymous until then, took possession just outside the 45-metre line and kept running until the 13, where he unleashed a furious shot past Fletcher. It was a shot in the arm that Ireland – and the fixture needed.

Frustratingly, though, Ireland could not pounce from there. Michael Murphy put a scoreable free well wide right afterward, and two more scoreable shots were sent behind to put the deficit at eight with two minutes left. The final score of the game came from Walsh, who capped a fine move and tremendous mark with a disappointing behind.

After the goal, the four Irish behinds could all have been overs – and the eight points foresaken would have left Ireland ahead at half-time in this series. Tohill and his crew will hope the series is decided by more than the points Ireland left behind – and that there is no such wastefulness in front of the posts in Croke Park next Saturday.

Scorers
Ireland: Bernard Brogan 1-1-0, Steven McDonnell 0-2-2, Sean Cavanagh 0-1-4, Tommy Walsh 0-1-1, Leighton Glynn 0-1-0, Daniel Goulding 0-1-0, Kevin McKernan 0-1-0, Kevin Reilly 0-0-1, Tadhg Kennelly 0-0-1, Martin Clarke 0-0-1
Australia: Adam Goodes 0-4-1, Eddie Bettes 0-2-0, Daniel Cross 0-2-0, Todd Banfield 0-2-0, Leigh Montagna 0-2-0, James Frawley 0-1-0, Patrick Dangerfield 0-1-0, Kade Simpson 0-0-2, Matthew Boyd 0-0-2.