Ireland’s endeavour pays off as Long earns point late on

Republic of Ireland 1 Poland 1

So, a night full of passion on pride at the Aviva but points, as they say make prizes, and like the loyalties of the 50,000 crowd who packed the place out were evenly divided.

It was, by the end, one of those nights when the draw seemed just a little like a victory at the moment the final whistle sounded with Shane Long’s 90th minute close-range strike saving Ireland from what looked set to be a defeat

The loss of even two points here, however, leaves Ireland off the pace in the four-way race for qualification with Poland still leading Group D ahead of Germany and Scotland, each of whom now have a significant advantage on Martin O’Neill’s side with everyone still to play each other once.

Roy Keane has done a good job up to now of rationalising why games should not quickly be marked down as "must wins" but even he will probably have to admit that, as things now stand now and given the defeat in Glasgow, anything other than three points against the Scots in June and the FAI can probably start taking preliminary soundings about a summer tour in 2016.

For the moment, though, he, the rest of the management team and the players themselves will take some encouragement from the spirit shown over the course of the 90 minutes here. Poland had something to defend from the moment Slawomir Peszko capitalised on some poor defending to score and the visitors battled relentlessly to hang on to that advantage.

Ireland, though, never let up as they scrapped to get a foot back in the door, and after playing a part he'll want to forget in the goal conceded, Robbie Brady will be relieved that it was one of his set pieces followed by a neat lay-off by Wes Hoolahan that set Long up.

Given the way Ireland have famously struggled to beat bigger teams when it has mattered over the past decade or so, the closest there had been to a positive omen before the game what the fact that Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson had overseen two Polish defeats in the last World Cup qualifying campaign.

Those who have demanded a more attacking brand of football from Ireland would have felt more confident about him hitting the hat-trick once O’Neill’s selection became known with the manager clearly targeting all three points in the way he had suggested he would this week. There were seven changes here from the side that lost a little too tamely in Scotland and while some were down to regulars returning, the shift in emphasis was clear.

The defining decision were up front where Hoolahan started between Jon Walters and Aiden McGeady in support of Robbie Keane and on the left side of the defence where Brady was handed the chance to help build the team's attacking moves from the back.

The downside of that decision didn't take long to materialise. The 23-year-old showed the sort of enterprise from the outset that was intended to provide balance to Séamus Coleman's play on the right flank but he rarely looked entirely at home with the defensive side of things and his ball retention looked shaky from the opening exchanges too. Ultimately, in the 27th minute, both his judgement and control let him down as he tried a dummy under pressure from Peszko then a poorly executed pass to Marc Wilson with Maciej Rybus lurking.

The winger won the ball and laid it off neatly for Peszko who powered his shot beyond Shay Given as John O’Shea tried to block.

It was a terrible blow to a side that had made a lively start, particularly in midfield where James McCarthy energetically sought to impose himself on the proceedings. The Everton player threw himself into a couple of challenges and succeeded more than once in breaking up several promising Polish sequences of play. As the half wore on, though, Hoolahan, O’Shea and Coleman all picked up bookings with the first two achieving little other than, perhaps, letting opponents know they were there.

It was fast and furious stuff with not an enormous amount of quality on show although Robert Lewandowski occasionally showed his class as he helped his side push forward into the Irish half and tempt O'Neill's defence into conceding frees in dangerous positions.

Late in the half, though, Aiden McGeady began to make his mark and Lukasz Fabianski was finally called upon to do something when the midfielder’s run led to a deflected Brady cross that the goalkeeper had to gather under some pressure.

Moments later, Ireland’s best opportunity of the half started with Brady’s most effective set piece with an initial clearance leading to McGeady and Walters combining before the latter neatly sidestepped two defenders but fractionally misjudged his shot.

The 28-year-old’s lack of match fitness took its told as the second half wore on and he was left behind somewhat prior to being replaced as Ireland sought to raise the tempo and intensity. All the energy the situation demanded was there to be seen but accuracy was another thing with players out wide posing a growing threat but struggling to create really clearcut chances for those inside who, in turn, rarely asking an awful lot of the Swansea goalkeeper.

James McClean bucked the trend shortly after arriving on with a long, swirling cross to beyond the far post from where Keane headed it goalwards, but Fabianski reacted well to push it onto the inside of his post and Kamil Glik then stepped in to hoof the loose ball away.

What followed in the time that remained was a display characterised by sheer determination from Ireland as they chased an equaliser that might, in turn, pave the way for a winner. It was increasingly edge of the seat stuff but one goal for the home side started to seem unlikely when McClean, whose impact was tremendous, again tested the Polish defence. Keane left the ball for Coleman after initially being wrong-footed but the full back blasted wide from a few yards.

To the team’s credit, though, the approach work never smacked of desperation and in the end, at the end, they got the goal their efforts deserved. Whether Ireland can now dig themselves out of trouble in the wider group as its conclusion approaches, however, is an altogether different matter.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (4-2-3-1): Given (Aston Villa); Coleman (Everton), O'Shea (Sunderland), Wilson (Stoke City), Brady (Hull City); McCarthy (Everton), Whelan (Stoke City; Walters (Stoke City), Hoolahan (Norwich City), McGeady (Everton); Keane (LA Galaxy).

Subs: McClean (Wigan Athletic) for McGeady (68 mins), Long (Southampton) for Whelan (83 mins).

POLAND (4-4-1-1): Poland: Fabianski (Swansea); Olkowski (Cologne), Szukala (Al-Ittihad), Glik (Torino), Wawrzyniak (Legia Warsaw); Peszko (Cologne), Jodlowiec (Legia Warsaw), Krychowiak (Seville), Rybus (Terek Grozny); Milik (Ajax); Lewandowski (Bayern Munich).

Subs: Mila (Lechia Gdansk) for Milik (83 mins), Kucharczyk (Legia Warsaw) for Peszko (87 mins).

Referee: J Eriksson (Sweden).