No such luck! A comfortable 4-0 victory secured all the points for the Irish which sets us up well for what should be the easier of the two matches against Andorra on Wednesday. The last time we went to Cyprus for a qualifying international was in the 1980's where we recorded a narrow 3-2 victory against our hosts. Has that much really changed in twenty years where now we consider ourselves to be a major force in world football? I don't think so; we just got our genealogists working harder to take advantage of the lenient grandparent rules that FIFA so kindly established.

The fact of the matter is that any international victory on away soil is a great result. And the Irish team especially don't have a divine right to beat teams like Cyprus, Iceland or Lithuania whilst on their travels. France, Spain and other top European nations have all suffered shock defeats in recent years, so the real surprise is that Ireland doesn't suffer more bad results when playing against these weaker nations.

Speaking of weaker nations, our good friends in the North managed a respectable but worthless 1-0 defeat to an excellent Czech Republic team in Windsor Park on Saturday, which should do enough to put an end to any aspirations that Sammy's Bhoys (sorry, I mean boys) had on making the World Cup finals next year.

Because the Gaffer at "Danger Here Towers" couldn't fund the trip to Cyprus, I was resigned to watch the match from the comfort of my living room. Normally I am an advocate of watching the match live at all costs, however two of the images caught on the box were well worth the license fee.

Roy Keane's commitment was in full view as he bollocked Gary Breen out of it on the way into the dressing room at half time. Breen made a half-hearted attempt to counter Keane's abuse which left a bemused expression on the Corkman's face as he mouthed "that's not the point". I'm not sure but I think Breen's words were - Look Roy we're on the Telly! It's a good thing that Keane took the match more seriously than a lot of the media who seemed to think that winning his 50th cap was the most important thing about the match.

The other moment of classic television came a split second after Ian Harte's terrible pass to Kevin Kilbane conceded a throw-in. The camera went straight to Mick McCarthy who left Harty and the rest of the Nation in no doubt as to his thoughts of the pass. "That's a f*cking awful pass Harty" bellowed Mick in his strong Yorkshire-Irish brogue. And a good two hours before the 9pm watershed. Excellent.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, domestic football resurfaced after it's pre-end of season break. The FAI Cup was the main talking point as Longford Town dumped the self-proclaimed SuperSaints out of the cup. And Bohemians eased past Kilkenny City. Portmarnock's fairy-tale run in the cup has been further extended, as the Dundalk team are unable to escape from quarantine to play the match.

The big match takes place in Tolka Park tonight as Shamrock Rovers take on Shelbourne in their quarterfinal spectacle. Rovers are on course for their 25th Cup success and the possibility of a Rovers-Bohs Final is enough to make your heart go oh oh oh oh, we don't care …

Also in the news this week was the extension of the FAI's deal with Sky Sports to show the Irish home matches for the next six years. The international matches are in addition to the real deal, which is to show the FAI Cup semi-finals and finals to all of our exiled brethren in England.

There is also talk of Sky Sports taking over the running of the embarrassing FAI official web site. If you go to the site and roll the mouse over the picture of Robbie Keane attempting to decapitate Mark Kinsella, you are informatively assured that the two gentlemen in question are in fact - footballers!! Nice one lads.

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