Ireland end decade of pain with Euro 2012 passage

DUBLIN, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Ireland qualified for their first major championship in a decade by following up their 4-0 first leg Euro 2012 playoff win in Estonia with a 1-1 draw in front of a giddy home crowd on Tuesday.

Ireland suffered a series of playoff losses since making their major tournament bow in 1988 at their only European Championship appearance, most painfully when Thierry Henry’s infamous handball ended their World Cup dreams two years ago.

However Friday’s thumping victory in Tallinn saw Giovanni Trapattoni’s side take a giant step towards ending that run and Stephen Ward’s first half strike made their passage to Poland and Ukraine even more secure.

Ward, almost ever present at left back since scoring on his debut against Northern Ireland in May, struck from close range on 31 minutes after a header by Wolverhampton Wanderers’ teammate Kevin Doyle was parried into his path.

Estonia looked like a team who knew their chances of reaching a first major finals were over before they had set foot in Dublin but interrupted the party just before the hour when stand-in captain Konstantin Vassiljev equalised.

Vassiljev, who in particular had shown some glimpses of the form that made Estonia shock playoff entrants before their late capitulation last week, had Shay Given to thank in part after the usually reliable keeper let a long range effort squeeze under his body.

Estonia—who were missing first choice centre backs Andrei Stepanov and skipper Raio Piiroja after they were sent off in the first leg—came closest to sneaking a winner when Given did better to stop a stinging Tarmo Kink strike.

However a packed Aviva Stadium—full for a soccer international for the first time since opening last year — could not have cared less when the final whistle sounded and fans celebrated qualification 10 years to the day after beating Iran to reach the 2002 World Cup. (Editing by Alan Baldwin)