Much better second time around

As coincidence would have it the result was the same each time, but as the years roll by and Matt Holland becomes a more established name on the Irish scene, it's likely that he'll look back more fondly on his second competitive appearance for the Republic than his first.

His debut came a year ago in Skopje and Mick McCarthy's decision to bring on the Ipswich defender for Mark Kennedy six minutes from time was one of the bones most picked over when the critics came to reflect on the reasons for Ireland's failure to qualify for the European Championships.

As he waited to come on for his second competitive cap, at half-time in the vast Stadium of Light on Saturday night, Holland must have wondered whether this was really meant to be. "Look after Figo," or words to that effect, were the orders from Mick McCarthy. "Luckily I only had to do it for 10 or 15 minutes," the 26-year-old laughed yesterday, "although even that was more than enough".

The Bury-born midfielder, who went on to score a crucial and memorable goal, admits that he's on a giant learning curve just now - playing in the English Premiership for the first time and, now, starting to make a bit of headway at international level. "Coming up against better players week in week out is bound to help me," he says in his soft-spoken English accent "and with the Irish team it's fantastic even to be involved." While he has not missed a single first team game in almost 200 since arriving at Ipswich from Bournemouth in July of 1997, he concedes that his opportunities with the Republic may be somewhat more restricted for the foreseeable future given the competition for places in central midfield.

Yesterday McCarthy said again that, while Roy Keane and Mark Kinsella would remain his first choices, "if either of them was to get injured now, I wouldn't miss them as much because of Mattie". Right now, reckons the newcomer, that's good enough for him. "It's just a big thrill to be around the team and to get the chance to play in a game like Saturday's. I know that I'm no Roy Keane, but all that I can say is that whenever I am called in to play for Ireland, I will give it absolutely everything that I've got".

That's what he did in the US during the summer where Holland was one of those who took advantage of the absence of some senior players to impress McCarthy. "People say those trips are a waste of time," says the Ireland manager, "but look at it, I saw Richard Dunne and Gary Breen play together in America during the summer and realised that the partnership was promising. And players like Mattie and Dominic Foley, who we had on the bench on Saturday, all had the chance to show us what they could do. It was fabulous."

Much the same could be said of Holland's fifth outing in a green jersey at the weekend, although the player himself may be just a little too modest to say so himself. He is justifiably proud of his achievements, though, both at club level and on the international front where, having only been approached by McCarthy a couple of years ago because his grandmother, Jean, hails from Monaghan, he has already written his name into the history books.

With his father Mike having passed up an offer to play third division football, Holland probably knew better than most the sort of gamble he was taking when he took his first tentative steps into professional football at West Ham during his teens.

There are many players who have taken that same risk and seen it pay off more quickly, but precious few, one suspects, who have deserved their success more than Ireland's latest World Cup hero.