The fighting Irish bow out in Lyon but still have dreams and songs to sing

And then it was over. The sight of Seamus Coleman in tears at the final whistle just brought it home even more.

After the most flirtatious of first halves at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais, where the Republic of Ireland had fashioned an interval lead courtesy of Robbie Brady’s penalty after only two minutes, Martin O’Neill’s side succumbed to a 2-1 loss against host nation France.

Photo caption: Letterkenny’s Mark, Brian and Siobhain Duffy with Alan Foley in Lyon yesterday afternoon

Brady had scored from the spot following a foul by Paul Pogba on Shane Long. The French were 1-0 down before they’d even kicked the ball.

Alan Foley (Letterkenny), Robert Berney and Gary McGreal (Crumlin, Dublin), Garrett Cleary and Catherine Drake (Limerick), Eoghan Carroll (Navan. Co Meath) and Christy Connaghan and Darragh O’Donnell (Termon) in Lyon yesterday before the Republic of Ireland’s last 16 clash with France at Euro 2016

At the Olympic Stadium in Munich in 1974, Johan Neeskens had shot the total footballers of Holland into a second minute lead in similar circumstances against West Germany in the World Cup final.

But it remains the utopia moment of Dutch football – if they could just press the pause button on life and feel like that forever – as they hopes eventually unravelled into the heartbreaking 2-1 loss.

Ireland suffered the same fate eventually following two goals in four minutes from Antoine Griezmann and when Shane Duffy was sent off for a challenge he just had to make on the edge of the penalty area, the 10 men battled hard but were dead on their feet.

Duffy almost lost his life playing football six years ago and only made his first appearance at the Aviva Stadium on Good Friday. He will be hurting after yesterday’s dismissal but few held it against him. He can look forward with optimism.

Leading 1-0 at the break and having performed more than impressively in the first 45 minutes, perhaps those few minutes will be Ireland’s utopia moment. Teams have got farther in competitions before but this was tangible.

The carcass of the stadium was deafening with a cacophony of noise reverberating around the inner halls. Some people looked almost stunned at the position that Ireland had found themselves in.

It was like a dream that nobody – absolutely nobody – wanted to wake up from. There were queues of people puffing their cheeks with a glaze in their eye, almost shaking from the realisation of the situation.

Eoghan Carroll from Navan, Alan Foley from Letterkenny and Christy Connaghan from Termon at the Stad Olympic Lyonnais yesterday

But then it too unravelled in eight second half minutes. And when Griezmann headed the equaliser on 58 minutes, the stadium exploded with relief and joy as the French found their voice.

La Marseillaise drowned out the persistence from the little corner of green that was engulfed by a blue, white and red tornado.

The heart of this current Irish team cannot be questioned. Late goals in Tbilisi against Georgia and then in Gelsenkirchen when faced with world champions Germany set a tone for the side managed by Martin O’Neill.

This followed on when Shane Long struck in injury time last March to deny Poland the three points in Dublin and the Southampton striker scored the most memorable goal the Aviva Stadium has even seen then Germany came to Dublin to lose the return 1-0.

Ireland had been painted into a corner when they could only manage a draw against Scotland at home last June. Exactly 12 months to the day they were in the Stade de France taking on Sweden having wriggled their way out of the straightjacket to qualify.

Last week, having been trimmed 3-0 in Bordeaux by a Belgium team who will have a huge say in where the Henry Delauney trophy will end up, Ireland mustered a 1-0 win over four-time world champions Italy to prolong their stay in the competition.

And on Sunday, there was nothing but pride from players to supporters and from supporters to players.

Republic of Ireland captain Seamus Coleman in tears after the final whistle against France in Lyon yesterday

Shay Given waved off a 20-year international career where he amassed 134 caps and Robbie Keane’s 67 goals for Ireland will not be surpassed for a long, long time. Come September, though, when Ireland take on Serbia in Belgrade in the first of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, Coleman could be installed as permanent captain.

For the supporters, the journey too has ended. Last night and today they’ve been making their way from Lyon to all arts and parts. They were tired and weary but proud. Memories of a lifetime were compressed into two short, but fun-filled weeks.

There’s disappointment at the defeat but not at the manner of the how the competition evolved after an uncertain start.

The fans have a team that they can love again.  There will always be dreams and songs to sing.