LONDON -- At least this time England and Ireland managed to complete their match. A scrappy, but peaceful, 1-1 draw on Wednesday left both teams at Wembley Stadium breathing a huge sigh of relief. This was the first time the rivals had faced each other on a ftball pitch since hliganism forced the abandonment of a game between them after 28 minutes, 18 years ago. England fans, who rioted during the 1995 game in Dublin, heeded the warning of England coach Roy Hodgson by mostly refraining from anti-Irish chanting at Wembley Stadium. "Theres so much negativity around," Hodgson said. "But both sets of fans were vocal and ... behaved well. The only thing which stops this evening being a really gd evening for me is that we didnt win the game." The potential for provocation was avoided during the national anthems as the music was turned up to full volume, leaving some speakers crackling and the few "No surrender" chants by England fans inaudible to most of the ground. As England and Ireland held each other to a 1-1 draw for the third consecutive match, the only troublesome moment came when flares were set off, shrouding part of the pitch in green smoke. The game was largely uneventful. Shane Long headed Ireland in front after 13 minutes and Frank Lampard levelled 10 minutes later with his 29th England goal. In the second half, Ireland goalkeeper David Forde denied Theo Walcott twice and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. "We had sufficient dominance and sufficient goal chances to win the game," Hodgson said before stressing: "I thought that we played well enough." While England heads to Brazil for a friendly against the 2014 World Cup hosts on Sunday, Ireland -- fourth in its qualifying group -- prepares for a qualifier against the Faroe Islands on June 7. Englands sloppy play reflected its struggle to qualify for the World Cup. England is second in its group, two points behind Montenegro with five games remaining. "We do have a lot of firepower not available for us," Hodgson said. "Ill just have to hope that firepower is available in September and October." More significant on Wednesday was the chance to show that tensions between the countries have thawed. "Everyone was a bit worried, but the two sets of fans were great," Ireland captain Robbie Keane said. After all the pre-match fears, the only scattered bs were heard when defender Ashley Cole -- who is not universally popular among England fans -- received a commemorative cap for having reached the 100 mark for his country. On his 102nd appearance, Cole captained England for the first time, and came close to his first international goal early in the second half. "He has been one of the best left-backs in the world for many, many years now," said Chelsea and England teammate Gary Cahill. It didnt start well as Coles fellow defenders were beaten t easily for the opener as Seamus Coleman floated a cross into the penalty area. Long darted through and rose above Glen Johnson before sending the header past goalkeeper Joe Hart. Irelands defending was slacker to allow England to equalize. Daniel Sturridge worked his way down the left flank and, as he whipped in a cross, Lampard started to ghost into the penalty area. As the ball came off Sean St. Leger and Glenn Whelan, Lampard exploited the confusion to stab the ball home from close range. There was a blow for England when Sturridge was carried off during the first half, adding to Hodgsons injury problems. "Its ligament damage, we think," Hodgson said. "It will definitely keep him out for the Rio game and we think it will keep him out for a few weeks." With Jermain Defoe on in Sturridges place, the attack lacked spark. Wayne Rney, who has missed recent games for Manchester United, never came close to score in his first match in nearly a month. "Id be hard-pushed ... to say t much negative about the players in our team," Hodgson said. 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Forget the extravagant claims of greatness and fight-of-the-year talk. Last Saturdays Andre Ward-Sergey Kovalev bout was boxings version of a beggars banquet -- nothing epic, just a decent meal after a steady diet of stale sandwiches and flat beer at pay-per-view prices.Wards unanimous decision victory (114-113 on all three official cards) didnt really settle much, and had it been a fight between lesser lights, its unlikely we would still be talking about it.But boxings core audience was emotionally invested in the match. It was the showdown it craved and lobbied for, a fight between a pair of undefeated light heavyweights who seemed made for each other. A relentless power puncher against a master craftsman, but with a double twist: The puncher could box, and the craftsman had a mean streak.Expectations were high, a little t high as it turned out. But thats the burden all major matches must bear during boxings seemingly never-ending winter of discontent.Ward-Kovalev had no shortage of tension and suspense, but with the possible exception of Kovalev knocking down Ward in the second round, there were few memorable highlights. Clinches were more numerous than meaningful exchanges, and neither man ever mounted an all-out attack, even though they must have known it was close.We should have learned by now that the best-fighting-the-best formula does not necessarily guarantee a great fight. Thats up to the fighters. But the odds in favor of something exceptional happening are obviously enhanced when the combatants are among the elite.During the prefight hype, Ward-Kovalev was likened to the first bout between Shane Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya, in 2000, a superb example of a brilliant fight between exceptional fighters at the peak of their careers. Shane and Oscar held nothing back and tore into each other virtually nonstop from first bell to last. It was magnificent stuff fought at the highest level.We werent that lucky Saturday. Neither Ward nor Kovalev seemed as eager as Mosley and De La Hoya to risk all in the quest for glory, which is, of course, a prerequisite for true greatness.But these are trying times. Boxing has been sinking in a sea of mediocrity since the crushing disappointment of the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fiasco and the ensuing backlash.Ward-Kovalev didnt quite live up to expectations but provided enough of a bst to keep boxings bent nose above water. That has to count for something.Its easy to understand why a sizable number of viewers believed Kovalev deserved to have his hand raised and were ticked off when he didnt.I, t, had the Krusher ahead, 115-113. But theres a difference between a robbery and a controversial decision, and Ward-Kovalev fell into the latter category. It was that kind of fight. Neither ever gained total control.At first it lked as if Kovalev were about to dispatch Ward with the sudden violence of a man who laughs at his victim as he falls. He staggered Ward in the first round with a jab and knocked him down in the second with a right to the head. Nothing to it, right?Ward seem seconds away from oblivion, but in the face of the greatest crisiss of his career, he found the resiliency to keep going.dddddddddddd. He hung in there through the first half of the fight, taking his lumps, getting in his own share of the blows, but generally falling further behind.As things progressed, however, Wards subtle but highly effective work to the body began to sap Kovalevs strength. You could see the change in the Russians face, and Andre had the better of it most of the way down the stretch. Not by much, but apparently enough to win by a single point on each card.The promoters ambitiously named Ward-Kovalev Pound for Pound, alluding to the notion that the winner would ascend to the top of the mythical rankings. It didnt seem that big a leap of faith at the time. Going in, Kovalev and Ward were No. 3 and No. 5, respectively, in ESPN.coms P4P hierarchy. Now, not so much.Pound-for-pound is such an arbitrary and subjective concept, an argument can be made for the inclusion of any number of boxers, depending on ones criteria. For me, P4P is an arena of the mind, where all the boxers are the same size and compete against one another.Playing by those rules, nothing that tk place at T-Mobile Arena last Saturday convinced me that either Ward or Kovalev should advance above Roman Chocolatito Gonzalez and Gennady Golovkin, currently No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. Others, Im sure, have different ideas.Putting t much emphasis on P4P rankings can backfire. Right now boxing is like an unfaithful spouse trying to patch things up with its partner. Its going to take a long time and a lot more than one or two gd fights. Ward-Kovalev was a gd start, but only a start. A rematch could be another.An occasional gd fight is nowhere near enough. Continuity is vital to even a minor boxing renaissance. The hardcore audience isnt going anywhere. Theyre hked on boxing and are in it for the duration. The sport has to round up the strays and seduce the casuals to thrive. And thats not going to be easy.The answer is the same as in any business: consistent quality at a reasonable price -- not exactly boxings governing business model. But every now and then we get lucky. The next few months might, just might, be one of those times.The upcoming schedule is PPV free and features Vasyl Lomachenko-Nicholas Walters on Nov. 26 and Terence Crawford-John Molina on Dec. 10. Molina is unlikely to last long with Crawford, but Lomachenko-Walters is intriguing.Badou Jack-James DeGale (Jan. 14), Carl Frampton-Leo Santa Cruz II and Keith Thurman-Danny Garcia (Mar. 4) await us in the new year. All have promise, and with a bit of luck, could keep things going.Its boxing were talking about, so undue confidence is flish. Fights fall apart for countless reasons. It comes with the territory. But the upcoming schedule is promising, and if things fall into place, we could lk back on Ward-Kovalev as the start of a roll.It was, at the very least, a time when arguably the two best fighters in their division chose to fight each other. Thats never a bad thing. ' ' '