Though it wasn't pretty, the Rep. of Ireland secured their spot in the playoff round of the upcoming 2012 European Championship, beating Armenia 2-1 at Aviva Stadium Tuesday evening. The Keane-less squad (due to injury) was dealt a lucky break as the Armenian Keeper Roman Berezovsky was sent off for a handball, just 30 minutes in. Following this, Armenian Valeri Aleksanyan then gave Ireland the lead, poking the ball into his own net in the 43 minute. Richard Dunne extended the lead in the 59th, as Kevin Doyle was sent off following a Henrikh Mkhitaryan strike in the latter half of the game, that pulled Armenia a goal behind.
In a game where Ireland and Armenia had it all to play for, Ireland came out somewhat lucky in a game where Armenia seemed to had outplayed them. Despite the good luck, due to Kevin Doyle's rash challenges, he will now miss the first leg of the playoff round.
Ireland will have to wait until Thursday's Euro playoff draw to find out who they will face in the 2 legged battle for a Euro 2012 birth. Skipper Robbie Keane will hopefully be fully recovered from his injury for the November 11 and 15 playoff rounds.
