Martin O’Neill spoke of his satisfaction at the Republic of Ireland’s score draw in the first leg of their Euro 2016 play-off against Bosnia-Herzegovina – and of his relief that the match was not abandoned despite the dense fog that descended in the second half and threatened to turn the game into a farce.
“I’m delighted that the fog didn’t prevent the game from being finished,” O’Neill said. “I was concerned. When the fog came down it looked as if it was deepening. But the fog did not get worse after the first 15 minutes of the second half and the referee [Germany’s Felix Brych] saw fit to keep the game going. I’d like to thank the referee. I might have a gripe about one or two decisions but I thought he was outstanding and I haven’t said that for a long time.”
The Bosnia manager, Mehmed Bazdarevic, said “I can only comment on the first half because in the second I could hardly see anything” but, in fairness, he did not blame the poor visibility for the result, saying instead that “we did not manage to make life difficult for our opponents”.
Robbie Brady struck Ireland’s goal in the 82nd minute before Eden Dzeko drew the hosts level three minutes later, but the away goal means the Irish have an edge going into Monday’s return leg in Dublin, where Bosnia must score at least once. O’Neill says there is no question of his team resting on such a precarious advantage . Bosnia are capable of scoring so I don’t think we can just sit back. We will try to attack more than we did here and play to win, that will be our objective .