Finns find Finnan's finish fatal

On the night, even the streakers' hearts weren't really in it. And who could blame them? A low-key friendly against Finland on a chilly evening in mid-November . . . let's face it, no one wants to get completely naked for the likes of that. Such was the general lack of commitment, in fact, that for long spells last night's game generated about as much excitement as a Sunday morning stroll on nearby Sandymount Strand. Still, a win, as they say, is a win, and the fact that Ireland came out on top, Steve Finnan and Kevin Kilbane scored their first senior international goals and the home side kept a clean sheet will all be counted as worthwhile achievements by Mick McCarthy this morning.

On balance, the Irish did enough to win the match too, although Steve Staunton's injury-time goal, a curling free kick that proved to be the last kick of the game, probably made the final margin look a little flattering.

At the back Ireland played loosely enough for the Finns to get at least one goal out of the evening; but, on the one hand, Shay Given underlined his return to form with a solid display that included a handful of decent saves, while, on the other, the finishing of the visitors left a good deal to be desired.

Through the first period the sort of weaknesses we had convinced ourselves did not exist during the games against Holland and Portugal were regularly highlighted by the combination of Jari Litmanen's movement and Mikael Forssell's pace. But the Finns' best chance by some way came a couple of minutes from time when Stefki Kuqi got to the line and sent in a low cross that evaded Given and a couple of his defenders. All three were fortunate that Mika Kolkka's attempt to tap into an open goal didn't even have the momentum to cross the line from a couple of metres out.

Admittedly, the 26-year-old had shown he could do rather better with a couple of earlier attempts on the target. He still could have taken lessons from any of the Irish scorers, for if this match boasted little else it did at least produce three memorable if very different goals.

Steve Finnan's effort after just 15 minutes would have been a worthy match winner itself. Ian Harte started the move by feeding the ball to Mark Kinsella in midfield and the Irish skipper's 40 yard ball allowed the Limerickman to steal away from the two Finnish centre halves and around the advancing Jussi Jaaskelainen all with his first touch. After that his second didn't have to be especially good for there was an awful lot of goal to aim at.

Staunton's was sweet too, a perfectly placed strike - after Jason McAteer's short free kick that was much in the mould of his more vital effort against Malta last year while Kilbane's, surprising in so far as it came from a header, was the product of fine cross from the Blackburn midfielder and an even better finish from the Sunderland winger.

Of the five players who came into the starting line-up McCarthy had hinted that Finnan stood the best chance of dislodging an incumbent. There's a long way to go before the Irish head for Cyprus and Andorra in the spring but at the end of this game both the Limerickman and Given can feel satisfied that they've furthered their respective claims.

Not everything went without a hitch, though. Twice before the Irish took the lead there were the sort minor breakdowns in communication at the heart of their defence that would, in a more competitive environnent, generally be expected to prove costly.

More than once 19-year-old Forssell got the better of Richard Dunne and Gary Breen only for the required finish to elude him. Once, when Aki Riihilahti's through ball looked set to give the Crystal Palace striker a real opportunity to measure up his crack at the target it was Given who came to the pair's rescue, timing his intervention just outside his area much better than Jaaskelainen had managed to with Finnan.

Even in his current form, though, Newcastle United goalkeeper could do littlewhen, three minutes before the interval Forssell laid the ball off short to Joonas Kolkka and the PSV midfielder let loose with a shot that flew past the Donegalman only to crash back off the of the bar.

Three minutes later the Finns went close again, Litmanen this time volleying wide of the target Harte's initial positional error had allowed Jonatan Johansson to close in on the Irish goal from the right.

The consolation for McCarthy is that when it mattered most there has been nothing casual about his side's approach and it's hard to imagine there will be either once the Denmark friendly is out of the way in the new year and the real work begins once more.

???????Steve Finnan's effort would have been a worthy match winner, but Staunton's was sweet too, a perfectly placed free much in the mould of his more vital effort against Malta last year. And Kilbane's, surprising in so far as it came from a header, was the product of a fine cross from Jason McAteer and a perfect finish from the Sunderland winger.

Of the five players who came into the starting line-up since the game against Estonia, McCarthy had hinted beforehand that Steve Finnan stood the best chance of dislodging an incumbent. Maybe he got the message, because it was the Limerickman who opened the scoring 15 minutes into a game which, at that early stage, the Finns were just about edging.

Twice before the Irish took the lead there had been minor breakdowns in communication at the heart of their defence, but they were nothing compared to the one prompted by the 40-yard Mark Kinsella ball that split the Finns. As both centre halves looked on, and only Jussi Jaaskelainen reacted to the danger at all, Finnan pushed the ball past the oncoming goalkeeper perfectly with his first touch and needed to do no more than keep his head after that in order to guide the ball home.

The goal seemed to breathe some life into a side that had, up until then, really only threatened to sparkle when Robbie Keane was in possession. As early as the first minute, the 20-year-old Dubliner had started to give the visiting defenders some problems, but time after time they survived as the local's luck deserted him.

At the other end, Mikael Forssell was experiencing similar difficulties. More than once he got the better of Richard Dunne and Gary Breen, but the finishing touch was always missing, while on the one occasion that Aki Riihilahti's through ball looked set to give the 19-year-old an opportunity to measure up his crack at the target, Given timed his intervention much better than Jaaskelainen had with Finnan.

Even in his current form, though, the Newcastle United goalkeeper could do little when, three minutes before the interval, Forssell laid the ball off short to Joonas Kolkka and the PSV midfielder let loose with a shot that flew past the Donegalman only to crash back off the underside of the bar.

Three minutes later the Finns went close again, Litmanen this time volleying wide of the target after Ian Harte's initial positional error had allowed Jonatan Johansson to close in on the Irish goal from the right. Against better opposition, or on a night when there was a good deal more at stake, these were the sort of chances that the Irish might reasonably have expected to be put away, although when it has mattered of late there has been nothing so casual about the Republic's approach.

In the end there was probably just about enough in it all to persuade McCarthy that the whole exercise was worth the trouble, but, for a team that has grown used to playing for higher stakes of late, there was little enough ventured and not too much gained.

Republic of Ireland Given (Newcastle United); Kelly (Leeds United), Breen (Coventry City), Dunne (Manchester City), Harte (Leeds United); Finnan (Fulham), Kinsella (Charlton Athletic), Holland (Ipswich Town), Kilbane (Sunderland); Foley (Watford), Keane (Inter Milan). Subs: Staunton (Crystal Palace) for Harte, McAteer (Blackburn Rovers) for Kelly and Carsley (Blackburn Rovers) for Foley (all half-time), Connolly (Excelsior) for Keane (90 mins).

Finland Jaaskelainen (Bolton Wanderers); Nylund (HJK), Pasanen (Ajax), Tihinen (Viking), Saarinen (HJK); Tainio (Auxerre), Riihilahti (Valerenga); Johansson (Charlton Athletic), Litmanen (Barcelona), Kolkka (PSV Eindhoven); Forssell (Crystal Palace). Subs: Kuqi (Jokerit) for Forssell and Valakari (Derby County) for Johansson (both half-time), Kuivasto (HJK) for Tainio (67 mins), Nurmela (Heerenveen) for Pasanen (77 mins).

Referee: P Durkin (England).

In the first period the weaknesses we had convinced ourselves did not exist against Holland and Portugal were regularly highlighted by the combination of Litmanen's movement and Forssell's pace.