Well, that was certainly an experience.
Ireland took on Bosnia in the first leg of the Euro 2016 playoffs, and after a tense first 45 minutes where Ireland dropped deep and Bosnia seemed content to pass the ball around.
The second half kicked off, and that was the end of the action as far as most fans watching on TV were concerned, as the fog made it almost impossible to see what was going on. Thankfully after 80 odd minutes we were informed that Robbie Brady had scored a goal, and sure enough the close-up replays confirmed it.
Here are five things we learned from a very strange second half:
Zenica's climate in November is very, very unpredictable.
The teams went in at half-time and everything was fine, 15 minutes later and it was like a scene from the adaptation of Stephen King's 'The Mist'. Nobody could see a thing, and we were fully reliant on George Hamilton and Jim Beglin to keep us informed on the action.
James McClean came on.
We think. We actually can't be sure when, but he was at fault for the second goal, so it must have happened at some stage.
Darren Randolph did something that prevented a goal at some stage.
Fantastic save from Randolph. Only part of pitch we can see clearly from this view is Irish box.
— Daniel McDonnell (@McDonnellDan) November 13, 2015
Jim Beglin was very complimentary of something Darren Randolph did mid-way through the half, well done Darren, making the #1 shirt your own. Possibly.
November matches should probably use a brightly coloured ball.
Apparently the ref actually made the decision NOT to switch to a brightly coloured ball, instead opting to stick with a white one. The result? We had no idea what was going on. It was actually ridiculous.
WE SCORED! ROBBIE BRADY SCORED!.. so did Bosnia.
Yes, we did in fact score a goal. Nobody saw it happen, some heard it happen, but the ball hit the back of the net and secured us a vital away goal.
Then, in typical fashion, we allowed an equaliser not even three minutes later.
Has an Irish goal ever caused so much confusion, or such a delayed reaction before?
