Optimism should emerge from heartbreak after gallant Prague effort

"Someone give him a hug, for f**ks sake." That was my wife Ciara shouting at the telly when the cameras found Troy Parrott in tears at the end, standing in front of the travelling Irish support, trying to take in the pain while somehow still acknowledging them. It was the perfect reaction because that was the feeling in the pit of my stomach watching it all unfold. Not anger first. Not analysis first. Protection. You wanted to mind the players. You wanted to take that moment off them. And Parrott, after all he has carried for Ireland in recent months, was the face of it. This wasn't a game dripping in quality. It was a tense, awkward at times, scrappy play-off, the kind of game that is more...