While not being a lover of the UEFA Nations League, the prospect of a weekend in Dublin was not to be sniffed at, as the Wanderers weren’t playing because of international duties.

Responding to our international call-ups, we got the 6am flight from Manchester to Dublin on Friday morning, and by lunchtime, we had devoured a full Irish breakfast and discovered the oldest pub in Ireland, the Brazen Head, established in 1198, and supped our first pint of Guinness.

As the match was scheduled for Saturday evening, we visited the triple award winning EPIC, the Irish Emigration Museum. It is a fantastic place, telling the stories of Irish Emigration throughout history from before the potato famine, right up to date with the economic crises of the 21st century.

Which brings us on to the match itself, as England’s manager, Lee Carsley and two of our star players, Declan Rice and Jack Grealish, all have Irish heritage and had indeed played for Ireland at junior level.

The Aviva Stadium is in the south of Dublin, about 30 minutes walk from the centre, longer if you avail yourself of one of the many pubs en-route. The atmosphere was good, with plenty of banter, well controlled by the Garda. We had the North Stand, the only single story part of the ground, in what is an impressive 50,000 capacity stadium. Evidently, some locals didn’t want the light taking off their gardens, when the stadium replaced the old Lansdowne Road ground.

Carsley gave Levi Colwill his international debut and recalled Harry Maguire and Grealish to the team in his first match as the stand-in England manager. The match kicked off to a great roar, with the Irish holding up a banner, ‘The snakes are back’, with pictures of Rice and Grealish, who they booed at every occasion. Destiny prevailed and both players rattled the Irish cages by scoring in the first half, dominated by England. Rice played down his celebrations and later refused the captain’s armband, when Harry Kane went off. Grealish had no problems celebrating his goal. The match fizzled out in the second half as England held on to what they had. After the match, we celebrated in the Parnells Heritage pub with Irish Stew, washed down with a few more Guinness.