Long hopes victory over Bosnia will put Ireland on a roll

May 26, 2012 7:47:00 PM

The West Brom striker netted the only goal of the game as Giovanni Trapattoni's side won their final game on home soil before the start of the European Championships

Republic of Ireland striker Shane Long is hopeful his side’s victory over Bosnia will put them a roll ahead of Euro 2012 with start next month.

The West Brom forward scored the only goal of the game at the Aviva Stadium converting Aiden McGeady’s pinpoint cross and came close to adding a second minutes later but was denied by Bosnian keeper Asmir Begovic.

Long hopes Giovanni Trapattoni’s side can maintain their current form and confidence heading into the Championships in Poland and Ukraine.

He told Sky Sports: "The gaffer put me on to get the winner and luckily I was on the end of a brilliant Aiden McGeady cross."

Asked how important victory could be psychologically ahead of the tournament in Poland and Ukraine, Long said: "It's massive.

"We joined up on Sunday, and we wanted to get off on a good foot today and get a bit of a roll going before we go to Poznan [Ireland's Euro 2012 base].

"Job well done. We go on to Hungary on June 4 and we'll try to get a win there and get a bit of confidence going.

"The whole country's getting right behind us. They're all coming over to support us. Hopefully we'll give them something to shout about."

Winger McGeady impressed after coming on as a second-half substitute and he feels his side could have won more comfortably than by the single goal.

He added: "It was tough but we're glad with the win. Bosnia had a few chances in the first half but in the second half we got chances ourselves and it could have been three or four."

Richard Dunne left the field in the second-half during the win, but revealed it was due to exhaustion rather than injury.

He said: "I was just tired in the sun. It's so hot, it takes it out of you."

The defender hailed their opponents and admitted he was delighted to keep a clean sheet against a quality team.

He added: "Today was good. When Aiden came on he changed the game and really opened them up.

"The atmosphere among us is really good. To win games obviously builds that. It's nice to win our final game in Dublin, to keep the crowd interested and excited for what's to come. We know against eastern European sides it's always hard.

"They're a tough side to play against, they're technically very good. But we've coped and we've kept a clean sheet and that's the big thing for us."

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