THANK EVAN'S ABOVE!

Relief for Ireland as Ferguson calms nerves before sub Idah puts the game to bed

- BY PAUL O'HEHIR

IRELAND'S ability to shoot themselves in the foot never ceases to amaze, but Heimir Hallgrimsson's team are finding ways to overcome it.

Before Evan Ferguson and Adam Idah scored the goals to preserve League B status in the Nations League, Ireland flirted with making this another of 'those' nights.

Bulgaria hadn't a sniff in the game yet took the lead before half-time and Ireland, who started so brightly, couldn't finish off moves and lost their mojo.

Some of the attacking play was decent to watch but little was falling their way and the statement win that Hallgrimsson was chasing looked far from guaranteed.

But then Ferguson shook the rust from his powerful frame to slam a 63rd minute equaliser to put Ireland ahead in the tie, before Idah won it with five minutes to go. It was a fair reward considering Ireland's dominance over the two legs, but Hallgrimsson (right) knows Ireland will have to be more ruthless in the World Cup campaign.

Winning is a habit and the character shown to come from behind again will fuel belief going into that September campaign against Portugal, Hungary and Armenia.

Portugal hammered Denmark in their Nations League play-off to confirm their standing as top seeds in Ireland's World Cup group.

At the same time, Hungary suffered a 6-1 aggregate pasting by Turkey while Georgia smashed Armenia 9-1 over two legs.