Another defeat for Stephen Kenny's Ireland as Dutch fight back in Dublin
IRELAND…1 (Adam Idah pen 5) NETHERLANDS…(Cody Gapko pen 19, Wout Weghorst 55)
From sweet to bitter, the taste and flashes of orange screamed danger for the Stephen Kenny era.
Defeats to France on Thursday and Netherlands last night mothball this Euro campaign with three qualifiers remaining but the stability of the manager’s tenure crumbled in the June defeat in Greece.
Ditto Luxembourg for the World Cup tilt and Armenia when it came to the Nations League group he seriously felt Ireland were capable of topping.
For a 14-minute spell here, the reprieve Kenny yearned for and saw coming seemed possible.
Adam Idah’s second international goal from the penalty spot had Aviva Stadium rocking but it was Kenny's rockier defence that committed a couple of lapses to hand the Dutch a comfortable victory.
It was unfortunately Shane Duffy, made captain ahead of John Egan on his first home appearance since June 2022, who was partially culpable for both.
His decision to stay behind the rest of his defenders kept Denzel Dumfries onside twice. That led to the penalty from which Cody Gapko equalised and the cushioned header across the six-yard box for substitute Wout Weghorst to prod home.
There was no late Duffy cameo to rescue Kenny here, as he’d done against Bulgaria and Azerbaijan. A stoppage-time corner telegraphed for his towering frame was read perfectly by Virgil Van Dijk, who took ball and man when clearing the danger.
A late equalliser wouldn’t have done much for Kenny’s job security. An FAI board meeting in plenty of time before next month’s double-header against Greece and Gibraltar is set to halt his record at five wins from 26 competitive matches.
Even the Nations League backdoor route next March to the finals
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