Focus stays on big picture amid the wild chaos of glory

Release: the act of setting a person or an animal free; the state of being set free

For 95-plus minutes of football in Glasgow, the Republic of Ireland coiled themselves into a unit to thwart Scotland.

Pedro Martinez Losa's side were ultimately driven to despair as all of their efforts were absorbed by an orange sponge.

And then, when Swiss referee Esther Staubli blew the full-time whistle, the release.

Having been battered and shaken by the desperate hosts, Ireland exploded as a historic World Cup qualification was sealed.

Family members spilled down towards the pitch; Vera Pauw was lured away from post-match interviews by the players chanting her name; any semblance of routine was scrunched up and tossed into the wind.

And yet in the chaos, the Irish players seemed intent on putting the achievement into context; brushstrokes of serenity amid a backdrop of wild, unbridled joy.

Goal-scorer Amber Barrett delivered a remarkably composed post-match television interview in which she paid tribute to those who lost their lives in the Creeslough service station explosion.

"I know Creeslough like the back of my hand," said Barrett, draped in the flag of her native Donegal.

"Both my grandparents were Creeslough-born and bred, and I spent my whole upbringing there in the summers and Christmases.

"I know people who died in the tragedy, I know people who were affected by the tragedy, I know people who were first at the scene at the tragedy and I've not been able to put it into words.

"This is for Creeslough, this is for Donegal, this is for Ireland."

Midfielder Lily Agg took the opportunity to reflect on her late grandmother, who hailed from Cobh.

"I've got a little tattoo here [on her leg] for my grandma with my rosary beads. Every night before