STEPHEN KENNY PRAISED his players’ composure as they came through an anxious first-half to beat Gibraltar 3-0 at the Aviva Stadium, but admitted his side need to become more consistent.
It’s Ireland’s first win of the qualifying group, and is the bare minimum after a demoralising defeat away to Greece last Friday.
The game was scoreless at the break, but the half-time introduction of Mikey Johnston and a swap to a back four swung the game Ireland’s way, with Johnston opening the scoring before Evan Ferguson and Adam Idah added further gloss.
“It’s important to keep our composure and believe in ourselves”, said Kenny after the game. “We’d a lot of shots – 32 shots – and it was all about getting the first goal. We had a great chance in the first-half but once you get the first goal it eases the tension and thankfully we got two others.
“That’s what a squad is for and obviously Mikey came on last Friday, we’re still disappointed about last Friday. We felt that, losing that game. The young squad were disappointed but it was important to respond in the right way. We’re expected to beat Gibraltar and we had the same scoreline as France and Holland [against them] and we could have won by more.
“And Adam and Mikey scored first goals, and Evan first competitive goal. He’s still learning, he scored here against Latvia but that was a very imposing header, nearly got a second. He’s so young and has an exciting team.”
Ireland’s qualification prospects still look remote, with Ireland third on three points, ahead of the Dutch on goal difference but having played a game more. Next up for Ireland is away to France in Paris on 7 September which is followed up by the home game with the Netherlands three days later.
“They are big games”, he said. “France in Paris on a Thursday and Holland here on Sunday night, two epic two games. The place will be electric here with Holland coming. We have drawn with Portugal here, 2-1 over there and France 1-0 here. The margins are tight. Anything is possible regardless of who we play. We haven’t achieved the levels of consistency and that is an issue for us.”