I travelled to Thomond Park for the soccer match full of hope and expectation. An opportunity to see top players in Munster and take in the atmosphere of a big game proved irresistible especially when some of my all time heroes were in action.
The year was 1981 and a gang of us blagged lifts from Cork to Limerick to see Hoddle, Ardiles, Archibald and Villa in that stellar Spurs side that simply oozed class.
Those might have been innocent times when our vintage was yet to reach maturity but there was undeniable brilliance on display that night in Munster rugby's stronghold.
I recall a Hoddle hat trick as the England international showed amazing poise, vision and technique. Eoin Hand who managed a decent Limerick side that included Tony Ward that day tells me that Hoddle scored four.
Thomond was a field of dreams that evening as a young man's resolve to take those posters down from the bedroom wall weakened somewhat in the face of such barely imagined skill.
Limerick was a soccer hot bed in those days which it can hardly claim to be now and the Hand managed side won the League of Ireland title in 1980. They then drew the as always 'mighty' Real Madrid but for reasons best known to themselves moved the match out of Thomond Park and up to Lansdowne Road.
Unlike nowadays the Dublin public showed little appetite for the Galacticos of their day and Limerick, it seems, sacrificing glory for loot lost a fortune. Plus ca change.
I wonder what the youngsters who went to see Ireland against Australia will remember from the game or the occasion in years to come?
Less than twenty thousand people in the magnificent new facility and an atmosphere that was muted and a little damp hardly helped matters. But for Ireland to be so comprehensively outplayed has sent alarm bells ringing as this current squads limitations were glaringly exposed.
Shay Given was eye catching as ever in his dayglo goalkeepers kit but as good as the Donegal man is he cannot play in the centre of the Irish midfield or protect an increasingly shaky back four. Or maybe he can.
Kevin Kilbane is running out of chances in the Last Chance Saloon and while he won't make any excuses the manager will hardly let sentiment cloud his judgement of one of the most decent , honest and loyal servants Irish soccer has ever had. The way he has been playing recently at left full back he hardly deserves to make his century of caps.
His form, and that of Aidan McGeady ahead of him on the left flank in turn destabilises a defence where Sean St Leger show promise but requires much more game time to be anywhere near the standard required.
Ireland's central midfield, once again, struggled to make an impact or to impose any order on proceedings. Glenn Whelan was probably our best performer in the engine room and Darron Gibson didn't do himself any favours, his confidence clearly ebbing away after he ponderously chose the wrong option on a rare foray forward.
Duff was disappointing and clearly needs more games at a new club to recapture the old spark, while Kevin Doyle's return from injury was, in hindsight, perhaps a little rushed.
For Spurs fans, like me, who remember Hoddle et al it's hard to find a context for Robbie - a striker versus a vainglorious, langourous midfielder. Robbie ain't as gifted, that's for sure, but in an Irish context maybe he’s the best hope we've got.
The subs - Westwood, Nolan, Andrews, Folan and Long – didn't really do enough although Andrews is surely ahead of Gibson again but all the signs in Limerick were ominous.
The Ireland captain called it a wake up call and it should be a shuddering, piercing wail. Trapattoni surely must know that as a squad we are struggling and have been, in truth, for some time.
Yes, we've done well to put ourselves in with a chance in this group with three games to go but traditionally isn't that where we've been in qualifying groups in the past at the same stage?
Now it's squeaky bum time and you would have to wonder if we have the temperament or as Trap puts it, the mentality, for what lies ahead.
Two words for you, Trap. Ewood Park.
Blackburn's first game of the season and a chance for Andrews to possibly play some part in midfield with Steven Reid who may be closer than people think to a recovery from almost a year out through injury.
Oh and on the other side amid the expensively assembled Manchester City squad the Ireland manager can get a chance to see Shay Given, Richard Dunne and the brightest of them all, Stephen Ireland. Give him some face time this time, Trap.
Ireland for Ireland. You know it makes sense.
Tony O'Donoghue is RTÉ's Soccer Correspondent.
