Ireland's bubble of tentative optimism under Heimir Hallgrímsson was resoundingly burst on Sunday evening, as five second-half goals saw England romp to victory in Wembley.
Liam Scales' sending-off was the pivotal moment in the game, after a brilliant first-half performance when Ireland genuinely threatened to get a massive result out of the game.
The wheels firmly came off any semblance of structure for Ireland after Scales' dismissal, with England capitalising in demoralising fashion.
Thus far under Heimir Hallgrímsson, progress has been steady. The first window saw disastrous back-to-back 2-0 defeats to England and Greece, before a win in Helsinki and an improved performance in Athens sparked hope in the head coach's plan.
Though Thursday's win over Finland was at times nervy, Ireland fans would have reasonably been hoping for another big result as they put in their best 45 of the Heimir era in the first half at Wembley on Sunday evening.
After the bubble burst in the second half, Hallgrímsson did not shy away from the reality of the result in London, refusing to allow any excuses to be made for the 5-0 defeat.
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Heimir Hallgrímsson had brutally honest reflection on humbling at Wembley
There were plenty of "what if?" questions attached to Sunday's drubbing for Ireland. The red card handed out to Liam Scales is the obvious one, with Ireland losing all form of control after going down to 10 men.
Despite the red card being instrumental in the outcome of Sunday' game, Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson refused to make excuses.
🏴 5-0 🇮🇪
'It was six minutes, eight minutes of madness... It was a lot of shock.'
Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson says his side 'lost their heads' in the second half pic.twitter.com/EE8gqbvtwN— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) November 17, 2024
Speaking to RTÉ immediately after full-time, Hallgrímsson said that the result had to be the main sticking point of Sunday's game, regardless of any positives related to the first half performance.
First half was like we wanted it yes but it's easy to say, 'We had a good first half.' When you lose 5-0, there's nothing basically that you can say.
It was six minutes, eight minutes of madness. Ending up with the penalty...losing the ball is one thing, not reacting to it is another, then conceding a penalty and losing a player. It was a lot of shock 1-0 down and then, in your face, you get the second one. I just felt that we lost our heads after that moment...there was no way back.
[We] kind of just gave up. It's easy to stand outside and criticise the players but it was kind of a crazy moment that killed everything - not only the gameplan but the momentum, the fight.
There's hardly anything I can say now. You try and pick the positives and the positives was the first half.
Ireland could feel hard done by not to have been in front before everything fell apart in the second half.
Both Evan Ferguson and Sammie Szmodics had penalty shouts in the first period. In the case of Ferguson in particular, it was hard to fathom why a penalty was not awarded.
Despite agreeing that Ferguson should have had a penalty, Hallgrímsson said that the team could not use the incident as an excuse after such a chastening result.
Like I said before, complaining about some things when you lose 5-0...you shouldn't do it.
Things like this happen, sadly for us it just totally changed the momentum of the game and, from then on, it was tough.
The Irish support were wonderfully vocal in Wembley despite the outcome, with the Fields of Athenry blaring around the famous cauldron throughout.
Heimir Hallgrímsson saved his final words for those who had made the trip to London.
"The only thing you can say is sorry to the fans, [they were] fantastic again," Hallgrímsson said. "The Irish fans, even after losing, they cheer the players on. It's just amazing. The only thing you can say is sorry."
