IN the end, it was too much to hope for. Ireland's game against England was the real Cricket World Cup final and, despite a fighting performance, Trent Johnston's men fell short.

The players knew better than anyone that this was the game that the whole island wanted them to win. For large stretches of the game the difference in class was not obvious between 11 highly-paid professionals and the eight amateurs and three rookie pros that make up the Irish team. It took extra efforts from Paul Collingwood ("England's best player", according to Johnston) and Andrew Flintoff to finally quell the peasants' revolt.

The squad were in despondent mood when they returned to their hotel at 6.30pm on Friday. That they actually competed with England for much of the game made defeat hard to take. A thrashing might have been easier.

Another Irishman in a sombre mood was Ed Joyce, who had a nightmare in his second ODI against his ex-teammates. He took a lot of stick back home, much of it from people who were ignorant of . . . or refused to understand . . .

his motives for playing for England.

Joyce talked before the game about how he had been involved in the video analysis of Ireland's players and had spilled a few beans about their strengths and weaknesses.

England's squad have been provided with video iPods and are each given short films of the players they will face.

Joyce's briefing to Duncan Fletcher is unlikely to have included Boyd Rankin, who only joined the squad late last summer and missed the qualifying rounds. The pair were at Middlesex together but their paths rarely crossed.

Joyce spent the last three summers rising swiftly from county pro to the most prolific batsman in the land, and on to the England team.

Rankin spent 2004 and 2005 at Lord's, but never rose from the 2nd XI, for whom he played 18 times. Coming back from injury in June 2004, Joyce actually captained the county seconds against a Minor County Under-25s selection.

Whether he spotted the raw talent of the Bready boy that afternoon in Milton Keynes (he only let him have five overs, in which he took 2-18), he obviously didn't spot the one you shouldn't leave.

It is always an ugly way to get out. What is only a slight miscalculation is amplified by the sight of rattling stumps and bat lamely wafted in surrender. Joyce walked grimfaced back to the pavilion with one beside his name.

It didn't get much better for him, England's victory notwithstanding. He had a nightmare in the field, spilling two catches he would have expected to take.

Joyce had been wheeled out for the world's media on Wednesday, whizzing between interviews for TV, radio and the print media. He fielded all the predictable questions about his eligibility with skill but admitted that he found his debut in Belfast "difficult and emotionally quite strange".

He also spoke about how he expected to feel odd "playing against my countrymen", and it must have been very difficult for him not to feel conflicted at stages on Friday.

The English press have a thing about Joyce, with several reporters unconvinced of his ability. Despite two 50s in the group stages he is now in the firing line. It would be desperately unfair if his first and last ODIs were both to be against Ireland.

Rankin has been the revelation of the Irish bowling at this World Cup. Before the competition began, Adrian Birrell told the Sunday Tribune, "He's very excitingf he's a fringe player but could be a main player for us within a game. If he bowls well he's potentially our best bowler."

From the fringe he broke in after the two warm-up games in Trinidad, consigning the Mooney brothers to watercarrying duty. His pace and bounce give him that bit extra that will discomfit top-class batsmen, and his six scalps here include top order stars such as Younis Khan and Michael Vaughan.

Rahul Bhatticharya, editor of CricInfo Magazine, raved about Rankin's performance.

"He's a better opening bowler than anything India has, " he told me yesterday. "I'm very impressed by the bounce and carry he gets. He has a big future in international cricket."

Mike Gatting is another fan:

"I saw him a few years back and really like the look of him, " he said. "I think he'll be quite useful. He can bowl quite lively."

There is much for Ireland to work on, too. The inner-ring fielding has been superb all tournament but the coach acknowledged that England scored too many twos on Friday, and that the boundary fielders may need adjustment.

The batsmen have struggled with spin, and did so again when Monty Panesar and Vaughan worked in tandem. The strike needs to be rotated more but that's easier said than done against the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan.

Another worry is that Ireland have yet to get off to a good start . . . the stand of seven against Pakistan is their best opening partnership of the event. Early wickets have been one of the stories of the World Cup and there is exaggerated movement at many grounds with 9.30am starts.

Jeremy Bray hasn't been in good form since his incredible century against Zimbabwe but Will Porterfield made a useful 31 against England.

Eoin Morgan has scored just 43 runs in four knocks so far, but the coach isn't worried about him. "Eoin's had a bad run, " he said this weekend, "but he'll deliver. He's a quality batsman."

The batting hero yet again was Niall O'Brien, who relishes a fight and is revelling in the hard-fought games here.

His second 50 was less epic than that against Pakistan, but he still played several shots that the greatest batsmen would have been happy with. His placement of the ball will have alerted the counties that this is a man with a big future.

His captain was effusive in his praise. "Niall O'Brien has been hitting the ball very well and you don't get a cricketer who works harder. He's the backbone and if we can bat around him we can maybe cause a couple more upsets."

Whoever made the call in Kent to let O'Brien go . . . and missed the opportunity to sign Porterfield . . . will be feeling pretty sick this weekend.

This week Ireland have just one game, on Tuesday against South Africa, and Adrian Birrell and Andre Botha have both been getting the Ed Joyce treatment from their press corps. The final game in this steamy South American republic is against New Zealand on Monday week, ending a fortnight that will draw on the players' off-thefield resources too. It is the poorest country in a poor region, and the comforts and distractions of home are few or non-existent.

By the time they say goodbye to Georgetown, Ireland will have a better appreciation of their place in world cricket, and of life itself.