That old Matt magic got Ireland in its spell. Last time it was a 25-yard drive against Portugal in Lisbon. This time, it was a half-volley from a similar distance against Cameroon in Niigata and Irish soccer fans rediscovered their voice.
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Ireland's lucky charm?
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The spirits of a nation got a much-needed lift this morning when Ireland picked themselves off the canvas against what looked like a team of heavyweight boxers and scored a more than creditable one-one draw against the Olympic and African champions, Cameroon.
After a first-half pummelling, Ireland dug deep to produce the kind of display many thought was beyond them after the Keane affair. By the end of the game, it was the Africans who were looking for the support of the ropes.
Around 6,000 supporters went to Japan to cheer on (or cheer up) the Irish team. A similar number turned up at the Westwood Leisure Centre in Fairview, Dublin, this morning. They weren’t sure whether they were coming for a celebration or a wake.
At 8.08 it appeared to be the latter. Paddy had scored but it was the wrong Paddy. Patrick Mboma for Cameroon deflated an already wary crowd who got up early to watch Ireland’s first World Cup game.
They queued from before 7 a.m. to get into the specially set up area on the indoor tennis courts and nightclub at Westwood. It was impressive: seating for around 4,000; breakfast rolls, tea and coffee sold from half a dozen counters; and a couple of bars for a sup if you wanted one (and they did).
Brenda Flood, CEO of Westwood, was too busy unpacking trays of beer to keep a close eye on the 100-odd staff on duty, when she spoke to ireland.com. "Because it was so early we were a bit nervous about how it would work out .. It's our first time to do something like this, so it's a learning process," she said. But as the man at the bar said, same again will do fine.
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Mboma scores: Stephen McGrath originally from London, now living in Drumcondra
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As Cameroon dominated the first half, many in the crowd grew fearful the Niigata nightmare some had predicted may come to pass. But John Doherty from Foxrock was still confident: "We’re playing much better than I thought we would. They [Ireland] are attacking far more, Cameroon aren’t as good as everyone said they were." Five minutes later, Mboma scored.
The half-time whistle blew 10 minutes later and from Ireland’s point of view, it wasn’t a moment too soon.
At the half-time break, manager Mick McCarthy must have had sense of deja vu. He gathered the team together, delivered some strong words and got rid of one of his midfielders. This time it was McAteer who was jettisoned but unlike last week's cull, he was able to call on a replacement. Steve Finnan took up the role on the right of midfield.
McCarthy told his players they hadn’t worked hard for two years to throw it all away in one half of football. He gets paid €300,000 a year for this? Whatever about the level of his insight, his half-time team talk worked a charm.
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Ciara O’Brien, Niamh Kenny, Muireann Carr, Brídín Nic Aogán, Susan Harnett, Lisa McEnhill, Rhona Carlon & Dee O’Grady in celebratory mood
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Ireland dominated the second half and eight minutes after the restart, that old familiar feeling swept through the crowd. A Matt Holland drive from 25-yards bulged the right corner of the Cameroon net and the Lansdowne roar rediscovered itself on the Northside.
"Brilliant," said Glenn Cahill (10) from Finglas. "I thought we were going to win." So did many others. Especially when Keane - of the Dublin rather than the Cork Keanes - cracked the post with 7 minutes left.
John Byrne, a Fingalian of riper years, said the key to Ireland’s performance was the post half-time back-to-basics policy. "We started too slow. The Irish game is the long ball, put them under pressure as Jack Charlton used to say. When we did that in the second half it worked out well for us."
Memories of the time under St Jack began flooding back. Not just the passion of the performance but the passion of the fans. The Green Army celebrates like no-one else and when the full-time whistle blew the hooley and the healing had begun. And some among the Westwood crowd perhaps started to believe once again they were the best fast fans in the world.