Friendly international: Republic of Ireland 0 North Macedonia 0
Troy Parrott remained the star of the show despite missing a hatful of chances to settle this forgettable international friendly at the Aviva Stadium as 17 substitutions ruined any chance of a competitive game breaking out.
Johnny Kenny had a clean look deep in injury-time to score from Adam Idah’s back heel, but shot straight at North Macedonia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrevski before grabbing his head in anguish.
Meanwhile, in Prague, Denmark and the Czech Republic played out the World Cup playoff the Republic of Ireland had hoped to host.
The lingering disappointing of last Thursday’s loss to the Czechs in a penalty shoot-out meant that everything felt laboured. The warm-up lacked any vibrancy with players taking a touch when the ball would zip off their boots last week.
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The crowd trickled into the ground with a turnout of 39,560 further proof of the revived interest in this team (and the plunging prices of resale tickets). President Catherine Connolly walked the red carpet, shaking every hand as the formalities seemed to last longer than usual.
Inside three minutes Pavel Sulc’s thunderbolt had the Czech Republic leading Denmark in Prague.
Never mind.
The Aviva’s south end, where the hardcore supporters hold court, tried to muster an early version of ‘Come On You Boys in Green.’ Hoarse from the Fortuna Arena in Prague, most people preferred to chat among themselves as a murmur punctured the gloom.
It was a mild Tuesday night in Dublin, nothing more.
The fans would need to be plugged-in. Séamus Coleman linked with Chiedozie Ogbene to create a 10th-minute corner that created a ripple of applause. When John Egan headed on to the roof of Dimitrevski’s net, hundreds of private conversations resumed.
The spectators were keen to play some part in proceedings. Like when Imran Fetai blocked Ogbene’s shot for a corner. The drum beat sounded and Lansdowne cleared its throat. Or when Caoimhín Kelleher parried Enis Bardhi’s free-kick, aimed towards the bottom corner of the Brentford goalkeeper’s goal.
Ogbene was oblivious to the atmosphere or “friendly” terms of engagement, cutting inside to offer Finn Azaz a run towards the North Macedonian box, only for Tihomir Kostadinov to bowl him over. Azaz curled his free-kick over the crossbar.
Parrott sparked to life before the break. Turning on to his left foot he ballooned a shot wide. No problem. When Azaz popped a ball over the top, he turned Darko Velkovski only to punch another effort off target.
In flow now, Parrott evaded Velkovski before his ankle twisted under Fetai’s slide tackle. After crumbling in agony on the grass, he recovered. Seconds later, he mistimed his run into the box and despite being flagged offside the AZ Alkmaar striker dinked a lovely finish in off the bar.
A seventh goal in four internationals seemed to happen when he rolled another shot beyond Dimitrevski. Offside, again. Marginal call. The linesman got an earful.
Heimir Hallgrímsson spent most of half-time on the pitch talking to the Ireland subs.
Azaz and Parrott continued to speak the same language. A glance and prod by the Southampton attacker allowed Parrott turn and hit the post.
He had one more chance before the game took a farcical turn on the hour mark when eight subs were introduced.
Coleman raced off without much fanfare, indicating that his international career could continue into the summer or beyond. Perhaps the 37-year-old did not want to take the attention from Bosun Lawal and James Abankwah, both winning their first caps or Harvey Vale’s home debut.
Abankwah limped off late on after a collision with Sebastijan Herera.
Parrott did not want to leave the pitch. It looked like Hallgrímsson gave him an extra minute as Adam Idah stripped off.
So ends a wild chapter in the history of Irish football. Next stop Murcia, Spain for another friendly, this time against Grenada on May 16th. It was arranged to prepare Ireland players at English Championship clubs for the incoming World Cup.
Oh well.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Kelleher (Travers 61); Coleman (Abankwah 61 - Browne 83), Egan (O’Brien 72), Collins, O’Shea, Scales; Knight, Molumby (Vale 61); Ogbene (Kenny 83), Azaz (Lawal 61); Parrott (Idah 72).
NORTH MACEDONIA: Dimitrevski; Zakov, Velkovski (Serafimov 46), Fetai (Musliu 66); Churlinov (Doriev 60), Kostadinov (Nikolov 62), Alimi (Stankovski 60), Herera; Bardhi (Ristovski 46), Elmas (Ramadani 60 - Bejtulai 72); Rastoder (Musovski 46).
Referee: Iwan Arwel Griffith (Wales).
