LEGENDS OF THE FALL

Hallgrimsson & Co need to be wary as October hasn't usually brought autumnal relief over the years

- BY KIERAN CUNNINGHAM

MONDAY night's fine documentary on Tony Cascarino on RTE meant that, far from the first time, thoughts turned to the Jack Charlton era in the buildup to an Ireland game.

Those who have only seen the footage blurry to our HD-conditioned eyes now-will think that time was all about dancing in fountains and endlessly celebrating draws.

But there was one draw that nobody celebrated. That's because it prevented Ireland from qualifying for Euro '92 - the one tournament in football history that Ireland would have had a real chance of winning.

Think that's an exaggeration? Well, the champions were Denmark who, like Ireland, didn't qualify.

They were let in because Yugoslavia couldn't take part due to war in the Balkans.

Run through the players available to Jack Charlton and Richard Møller Nielsen and you'd struggle to convince many that the Danes had a stronger hand.

Ireland were in a European Championship qualifying group with England, Poland and Turkey. They went unbeaten through the qualifiers, but two draws against the Poles allowed England to take the only qualifying spot.

Many Irish fans of a certain vintage are still haunted by what happened on October 16, 1991, in Poznan. Despite scoring three goals away from home, they only managed to come away with a point.