Rep of Ireland 0 Croatia 0:The Republic of Ireland resumed their preparations for next month's Euro 2012 qualifiers with a fairly pedestrian scoreless draw against Croatia at the Aviva Stadium tonight. The clean sheet will have pleased Giovanni Trapattoni, as will the effort after a summer off, though they ceded a lot of possession to their guests.
The home side registered the first shot on target through Darron Gibson after he and Damien Duff broke down the right, but a tame shot from the Fulham man’s return pass was comfortably gathered by Stipe Pletikova.
It would be 20 minutes before the Croat goalkeeper was troubled again as the visitors controlled large amounts of the early possession, Luka Modric and Odnjen Vukojevic keeping things flowing in midfield with Dario Srna on the right and full-back Ivan Strinic on the left providing width.
Modric found both with balls behind Irish full-backs and Strinic could well have had a penalty after Stephen Kelly hauled him down after he controlled one such pass in the 15th minute and shaped to shoot.
Ward also had to deal with the dual threat of Srna and Vedran Corluka, but had help from Stephen Hunt on the left, and a scrambled effort from Eduardo Da Silva that was cleared by Long was the closest they came to troubling the Irish goal in the early stages.
Ireland captain Robbie Keane had made himself useful in a deeper role for the first 20 minutes but going forward the clearances to Shane Long were producing little, though he worked hard to make something from nothing. West Brom’s latest addition played the offside to perfection at times but too often couldn’t find it in him to beat the retreating defender.
Corluka got in behind Ward in the 38th minute and Ireland were again lucky to escape when Niko Kranjcar scooped the ball over the bar from eight yards. By that stage, Keane and Duff had begun to find some symmetry as the captain pushed his side forward and after a few jinking runs he finally manufactured a sight on goal but his curled effort around Corluka was too close to Pletikosa.
Ireland ended the half with promise when Seán St Ledger, hitherto kept busy by the physical presence of Mario Manzukic, directed his header from Duff’s corner just wide.
The game opened up after the break, with Ireland forcing the visitors to scramble their defence early on, but not quite managing to pick the right final pass.
Ivica Olic replaced Eduardo after the break and was less than grateful for Gibson’s introduction which looked hard but fair, despite earning him a yellow card. Modric’s free-kick should have been finished by an unmarked Lovren at the backpost.
Keiren Westwood and Andy Keogh were introduced for Shay Given and Hunt in the 64th minute, Slaven Bilic also taking the opportunity to rest Kranjcar and give Ivo Ilicevic a run.
Duff swapped to the left to accommodate Keogh, who was urged to shoot by the crowd in the 70th minute but repeatedly passed up the opportunity on his left foot. His run did, however, lead to a free in for a handball and when Pletikova punched the first ball clear, St Ledger sent in another to his defensive partner Dunne, who put his free header well wide.
Ward was moved into central midfield when Whelan was replaced by Darren O’Dea and picked two good passes soon afterwards, the first leading to Duff’s deflected shot over the bar, the second finding Keane marginally offside.
Duff and Long were then replaced by Simon Cox and Keith Treacy and, with the Croatian subs having disjointed them slightly, Ireland looked the hungrier for the win, but it wasn’t to be, nor would it have been deserved.
Rep of Ireland:Given (Westwood 64); Kelly, Dunne, St Ledger, Ward; Whelan (O'Dea 74), Gibson, Hunt (Keogh 64), Duff (Treacy 83); Long (Cox 83), Keane (capt)
Croatia:Pletikosa; Strinic, Simunic, Lovren, Corluka (Vrsalijko 74); Vukojevic (Dujmovic 87), Modric, Srna, Kranjcar (Ilicevic 64); Mandzukic (Kalinic 74), Eduardo (Olic 45)
Referee:Tom Harold Hagen (Norway)
