Ireland make it two in a row

Ireland sealed their passage through to the finals of next summer's European Championship on Monday with a 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina to win 3-1 over the two-legged tie. It was the first time ever that Ireland have qualified for back-to-back European championships having also qualified via a play-off in 2012. 

The surprising aspect of this tie was that Bosnia were so poor. Coming into the second leg it was assumed that Bosnia couldn't play as badly as they did in Friday's first leg. It turned out to be true. Bosnia just never threatened with the gile and determination we expected. After the soft penalty (yes soft, speaking as an Irishman) Bosnia were rattled but did settle to have a shot on goal before half-time. 

Former Sevilla and Bayer Leverkusen defender Emir Spahic was on a mission to see how many clear cut fouls he could get away with. While he got away without getting sent-off it was his last cynical foul that lead to Ireland swinging in a free-kick and Jonathan Walters volleying home to put Ireland 2-0 up on the night. Still there was a feeling that Bosnia could still haunt us. You just never know with Ireland but thankfully Monday wasn't one of those nights. Despite hitting the bar late on Bosnia had disappointed throughout the tie. 

It all means that Ireland will join Northern Ireland for the first time ever at a major finals. Never before have both sides played at the same tournament with Northern Ireland appearing in their first ever European championships. Both sides however will be in the same pot for the draw so there won't be any group stage head-to-head but potentially in the last 16 depending on the draw itself.