By Frank Shouldice

San Marino 1 - Rep. of Ireland 2

STEVE Staunton’s brief tenure as manager of the Irish international soccer team hangs by a thread following another sub-standard performance in the Euro 2008 qualifiers against San Marino last Wednesday evening.

It took an injury-time goal by Stephen Ireland to plunder a fortunate victory, but the display was so poor that even the relief of a late winner did not stop Irish fans from booing their own players off the pitch.

On the back of a 5-2 drubbing in Cyprus, taking all three points against San Marino should have been a formality. A few withdrawals Shay Given, Stephen Carr and Kevin Doyle should also have been irrelevant. In two games Germany and the Czechs ran up a total of 20 goals against the group minnows and Ireland hit them for five at Lansdowne Road.

However, what began as a straightforward assignment became an arduous struggle. The hosts set about preventing another rout and defended in depth, bringing everyone behind the ball.

It was enough for them to frustrate the Irish attack but despite a couple of openings, Ireland looked stale and short of ideas. Goalkeeper Aldo Simoncini was never extended, with Ireland failing to hit the target or create clear-cut chances.

Scoreless at halftime, an edginess soon crept into Ireland’s performance, and only when Kevin Kilbane powered home a header from Steve Finnan’s fine cross could Staunton relax a little.

Cracking the nut after 49 minutes might have opened the floodgates, but the goal-rush never materialized. The Sammarinese stuck to their game plan, and while Robbie Keane might have added a second after being set up by Damien Duff the whole fixture was turned upside down four minutes before the end of normal time.

Simoncini launched a high kickout downfield. Paul McShane (who replaced John O’Shea at half-time) had the danger covered by getting goal-side of lone attacker Manuel Marani, but Irish ‘keeper Wayne Hender-son, a spectator for most of the evening, raced from his box with the dropping ball in his radar.

With Richard Dunne also tracking back Henderson collided with McShane and Dunne in a comical mix-up not out of place with the keystone cops. Marani stumbled on and with one knee on the ground poked the ball through McShane’s legs to the net.

It was a calamitous goal brought about by the most inept defending that will be seen on the international stage for some time. Marani ran ecstatically to his team bench, knowing he had registered San Marino’s first goal in the championship qualifiers.

In 20 years at international level this was only the fourth goal San Marino have ever scored. And with four minutes remaining the tiny principality possessing a total population of no more than 25,000 looked on the verge of chalking up a famous result.

Conceding the goal shocked the Irish into a frenzied effort. Whether it was fear of the ire of a couple of thousand traveling fans in the stadium or sheer embarrassment at drawing 1-1 with the weakest team in Europe, they pushed forward with an urgency that had been lacking for most of the game.

Within minutes they carved open four chances. Simoncini did very well to deny Finnan and Anthony Stokes might have grabbed a goal only to blast wide from seven yards. The assistant referee posted three minutes injury-time.

Four minutes had elapsed when one last effort began with a throw-in on the left. San Marino failed to clear and when the ball dropped to Stephen Ireland he bundled it home from close-range.

The home team were aggrieved that the Danish referee had extended additional time so generously, and while the Irish scorer was mobbed by very relieved teammates many Irish fans were wondering how the team have stooped to such a low.

There was barely time to restart the game before time was called. As if to show how far the Irish have fallen, a San Marino angrily player picked up the ball and kicked it into the stand. Such was his disappointment that Ireland had come and stolen a victory against the team ranked 195th in the world.

Facing a barrage of abuse, Staunton and his players were yet to face the music. The manager put on a brave face and tried to disguise the shambles he had just piloted.

“We had four chances after they scored and that showed tremendous spirit,” he suggested. “We got the three points. We showed fighting spirit. We controlled the game from start to finish. We’re grateful for the three points.”

His gratitude is not shared by Irish soccer fans. Already in this qualifying series we have been thrashed by Cyprus. Scraping an undeserved win against San Marino is not the stuff dreams are made of.