Republic rocked by late penalty

Robbie Keane looked as if he had given the Republic of ireland something to bite on for their Turkey-trot to Bursa for the second leg of the Euro 2000 play-off next week with a dramatic 79th-minute strike at Lansdowne Road.

But a penalty by Havutcu Tayfur just four minutes later earned the visitors a draw - and an away-goal advantage for the return.

Coventry striker Keane had squeezed his shot past brilliant Turkish goalkeeper Regber Rustu from a pass by David Connolly, the substitute just four minutes earlier for veteran Tony Cascarino who had started his 87th international as an 11th hour replacement for neck injury victim Niall Quinn.

It looked like a happy ending but the penalty, given away by Lee Carsley's apparently instinctive handball following a corner ruined it.

It was, however, not quite the end of the agony. Keane collected a yellow card for a foolish piece of dissent and, as that was his second of the qualifying competition, he will miss Wednesday's second leg.

With earthquake fears and goodness knows what else to face at the end of the Republic's 10-hour trek by air, land and sea, that might well be welcomed by Keane's nearest-and-dearest.

But it leaves manager McCarthy in despair with the loss of his most talented marksman and the omens are grim for the Irish as they face up to the nightmare of their fourth failure in play-offs for major championships.

Charlton's Kelly, making his international debut, seemed to inspire the Irish with a fearless plunge at the feet of Turkey's 26- goal ace Hassan Suker.

It lifted the Republic into a higher gear with West Brom winger Kevin Kilbane reviving his scintillating form of the first 20 minutes with a cracking drive that man of the match Rustu turned around a post.

By now Connolly was on for Cascarino and when, 11 minutes from time, Denis Irwin surged through the middle and played the ball out wide, Connolly produced a precise pass for Keane to finish However, just when that seemed enough to make next week's marathon trip a little more comfortable, the Turkish penalty and the Keane booking combined to wreck everything.

It may have been different had the Irish found a tangible reward for their early dominance.

There was a distinctly subdued feeling as the players line up to observe a minute's silence before the start in respect of the latest Turkish earthquake victims.

And yet the Republic were up for business right from the first whistle and forced the first corner after less than 40 seconds when Kilbane, fed by Rory Delap, tried a curler from the edge of the area but saw Rustu tip it over at full stretch. Within two minutes, Robbie Keane was testing Rustu again with a firm drive from 18 yards.

Then Roy Keane, back from injury to impose his familiar midfield enforcement burst through on the right and just failed to pick out Kilbane with his low cross to the far post area.

Gradually, though, the Turks began to impose themselves with the kind of confidence and drive that brought them a win over European champions Germany in the qualifiers.

Like Ireland, they missed out on automatic qualification by a whisker - a last-match draw in Munich not being quite enough to avoid the play-offs which the Republic also have to endure following Macedonia's equaliser against them in Skopje last month.

Without Robbie Keane, and possibly keeper Kelly as well, the Turks will certainly take some beating in Bursa, with midfielder Sergen Yalcin a playmaker of true class and Hakan Sukur's famed marksmanship which has already brought him 26 goals in 50 internationals.

And Ireland dare not repeat some of the defensive frailties they again produced in this first leg.

Too often they were stretched to breaking point through the middle and finally gave way for that penalty stunner. Republic of Ireland 1 Turkey 1

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