WEMBLEY SWAY

Collins admits the 5-0 drubbing by England was turning point for an Ireland team now on the rise

- BY PAUL O'HEHIR

AS the clouds of doom hovered above the Ireland squad leaving Wembley last November, it was hard to see any silver lining.

The Boys in Green were on the receiving end of a brutal second-half beating as England drove home their numerical advantage after Liam Scales’ red card.

Scoreless at the break, Ireland were under the cosh but holding their own before the floodgates opened and England scored five without reply.

Harry Kane, Anthony Gordon and Conor Gallagher scored three goals in five manic minutes before Jarrod Bowen and Taylor Harwood-Bellis added the gloss.

It was a brutal reminder that this Irish team under Heimir Hallgrimsson has a long way to go before they can entertain the notion of qualifying for tournaments.

The relentless hamster wheel that is English club football afforded those bruised Irish players a quick and natural distraction from what had unfolded.

It may have been four long months until the next international game but they didn’t have to dwell on their Wembley woe for too long over the festive period.

But Nathan Collins has revealed how that crushing defeat to England afforded him and his team-mates the opportunity to reset going into an important World Cup year.