SEAMUS COLEMAN SAID that Ireland’s players have to hold their hands up for gifting Scotland their equaliser.
There was less than a minute played in the second half when Shaun Maloney stunned the Aviva Stadium with a shot that deflected off John O’Shea and bobbled into the Irish net.
It saw the Scots leave Dublin with a 1-1 draw that keeps them third in Group D, two points clear of Ireland whose qualification hopes now hang by a thread.
“You can imagine any manager’s reaction straight after that,” Coleman said. “We were going to keep it tight and then we concede 45 seconds in.
We got a bit of a slap on the wrists for that and rightly so. As professional players that shouldn’t be happening 45 seconds into the second half.
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“We have to take that on the chin. You can do all the stuff that you want on the training ground but you can’t really let that happen so early in the second half, and then they got on top for a bit.
“A lot of people said it was must-win but we won’t give up hope just yet.”
Martin O’Neill’s decision to go with both Jeff Hendrick and Daryl Murphy from the start came as a surprise but Coleman praised the contribution of both, particularly in a first half which Ireland dominated.
“I thought Jeff did very well coming into a big game. He’s still a young enough player and I thought he did well.
“Big Murph was a handful up top but it’s just a pity that we couldn’t have got that second goal to maybe kill the game.
“We can take some heart from it and hopefully the young lads will have enjoyed the experience and we can learn from it.
Come September, if we can get the Aviva hopping like that, it’s half the battle.
It was Murphy who had perhaps Ireland’s best chance at 1-1 when he was sent through on goal, but Scottish keeper David Marshall was equal to the effort.
“That would have been great to make it 2-1, and I thought Robbie (Brady) played some great balls into the box a few times and we peppered their goal,” Coleman said.
“They just got that little bit of luck that we didn’t.
“The amount of balls we put into the box, a little deflection would have suited us but unfortunately they got it.”
We only have ourselves to blame for Maloney sucker punch - Coleman
SEAMUS COLEMAN SAID that Ireland’s players have to hold their hands up for gifting Scotland their equaliser.
There was less than a minute played in the second half when Shaun Maloney stunned the Aviva Stadium with a shot that deflected off John O’Shea and bobbled into the Irish net.
It saw the Scots leave Dublin with a 1-1 draw that keeps them third in Group D, two points clear of Ireland whose qualification hopes now hang by a thread.
“You can imagine any manager’s reaction straight after that,” Coleman said. “We were going to keep it tight and then we concede 45 seconds in.
“We have to take that on the chin. You can do all the stuff that you want on the training ground but you can’t really let that happen so early in the second half, and then they got on top for a bit.
“A lot of people said it was must-win but we won’t give up hope just yet.”
Martin O’Neill’s decision to go with both Jeff Hendrick and Daryl Murphy from the start came as a surprise but Coleman praised the contribution of both, particularly in a first half which Ireland dominated.
“I thought Jeff did very well coming into a big game. He’s still a young enough player and I thought he did well.
“Big Murph was a handful up top but it’s just a pity that we couldn’t have got that second goal to maybe kill the game.
“We can take some heart from it and hopefully the young lads will have enjoyed the experience and we can learn from it.
It was Murphy who had perhaps Ireland’s best chance at 1-1 when he was sent through on goal, but Scottish keeper David Marshall was equal to the effort.
“That would have been great to make it 2-1, and I thought Robbie (Brady) played some great balls into the box a few times and we peppered their goal,” Coleman said.
“They just got that little bit of luck that we didn’t.
“The amount of balls we put into the box, a little deflection would have suited us but unfortunately they got it.”
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