We got the result.
It’s not about the performance. Three points. Job done. Those were the sort of words that were being reeled on Landsdowne Road.
Jon Walters is developing his own little death stare.
The usual scenes unfolded beneath the stand in the Aviva on Thursday night after an unconvincing win over Georgia. Journalists gathered around the mixed zone waiting for any sort of soundbites, players came out one-by-one and politely ushered their requests away.
Thank God for Seamus Coleman https://t.co/87lFeZCaj8 #IREGEO
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) October 6, 2016
They knew what was in store. They could feel it in the Dublin air. The boos as Seamus Coleman kicked the ball back to Darren Randolph when it broke to him from a corner were telling. The jeers at half time were inevitable and even the goal summed up what kind of night it was.
So, yes, you could excuse the majority of the Ireland squad for passing up an opportunity to analyse their performance and to listen to questions of their style of play and their inability to keep the ball.
Playing badly & winning isn't a sign of a good team, it's a sign of a team that's getting lucky writes @dionfanning https://t.co/R5j8cIpviu
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) October 6, 2016
By all accounts, they had a few home truths issued at the break of the 1-0 Georgia win so the atmosphere, even with the victory, probably hadn’t cooled.
Jon Walters fronted up though. Of course he did.
He stood in front of the daily newspaper journalists and he answered all of their questions and he moved on to the online and radio section and he looked each and every one of them in the eyes. He came to Dublin to win a match and, as far as he was concerned, it was mission complete.
So he wasn’t in the mood to start writing off the country after a poor performance. He didn’t care one bit about the performance. And he rattled off the same point every time the same question came up.
“It’s not so much about the performance, it’s about the result,” he was defiant.
“If we’re sitting here next year and we play terribly all the way through and get 1-0 results, everyone’s going to be happy.
“We got the result, that was the main thing.”
That trend continued.
“We’ve won tonight, that’s the main thing.
“It doesn’t matter how we’ve performed, if it was a knockout tournament, we’d be through to the next round.”
It doesn’t mean the players weren’t looking at it themselves, he’s just not about to start spiking about it in the media. The Stoke bull did reveal that there was a bit of soul-searching to be done after the opening 45 minutes, not that he really wanted to divulge too much.
“It was almost like they were the home team in the first half,” he said. “We had a few choice words [at half time], we said what needed to be done, and I think we did that in the second half. I prefer when we press higher up the pitch, you get more chances.
“I’d rather be on the edge of their box rather than sitting on the edge of my own 18 defending against the full back and then when we do get the ball, it’s a long way to go.
“We said a few things between ourselves, and then the manager said a few words and Roy [Keane] did. We’ll keep what’s said in there, it got the reaction it needed.”
He saved his descriptions for Seamus Coleman and that wonder goal of the captain who Walters is full of admiration for.
Seamus Coleman doesn't miss from there pic.twitter.com/Ra2CHwtLn4
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) October 6, 2016
“Seamus got the goal, it was like he was playing a computer game,” the big man laughed.
“I got a touch, then it went back, then I think their centre half set him up for it. I just said to him, ‘the best ones are when you run them into goal, better than a 30-yarder.’
“It was fitting that he got it – the captain really stepped up to the plate and I’m delighted for him.”
The GAA Hour pays tribute to the unbeatable Dubs and ask where did it all go wrong for Mayo in the All-Ireland final replay. Listen below or subscribe on iTunes.
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