Ireland held by North Macedonia in drab draw

International friendly

Republic of Ireland 0-0 North Macedonia

The Republic of Ireland were held to a 0-0 draw by North Macedonia in a drab friendly at the Aviva Stadium.

Attempting to banish the heartache of their penalty shootout defeat against Czech Republic, which ended hopes of a first World Cup appearance in 24 years, Heimir Hallgrimsson selected a strong side and the hosts started well in Dublin.

Their first real chance arrived on 10 minutes as, after recycling the ball from a corner, Dara O’Shea crossed for John Egan, who was unable to direct his header on target.

Caoimhin Kelleher was called into action at the other end on 21 minutes as he was forced to turn Enis Bardhi’s deflected free-kick away from goal.

Troy Parrott’s tame header was then saved by Stole Dimitrievski before Finn Azaz curled a free-kick over the crossbar.

Parrott squandered a good opportunity on 39 minutes as he pounced on a mistake from Darko Velkovski, shrugged off the challenge of the defender and screwed his shot well wide when through on goal.

The busy AZ Alkmaar striker had a goal ruled out for a marginal offside on the cusp of half-time and then hit the post with a low strike soon after the restart.

The second half was punctuated by a slew of substitutions for both sides which made it hard for either to find any rhythm with Johnny Kenny and Adam Idah spurning a late chance as the game finished goalless.

Hallgrimsson said on Monday that he “wouldn’t expect a lot of changes” despite it being a dead rubber friendly as he wanted a “solid” performance, and he stayed true to his word.

He fielded a strong side with John Egan the only one of three changes made that was not enforced and it was a solid but unspectacular display from the home side.

It was always going to be hard to match the tempo displayed in the first half in particular on Thursday night, especially with players still trying to come to terms with having their World Cup dream ended in such a cruel manner, and it was a rather damp squib in Dublin in front of a healthy crowd given the circumstances.

Parrott was industrious and unlucky not to score in a fourth consecutive game for his country as he had one ruled out for offside and also hit the post.

Defying their lack of minutes as club level, Seamus Coleman, on potentially his last appearance for his country, and Chiedozie Ogbene brought great energy down the right-hand side.

Azaz was bright playing in the number 10 role, particularly as the hosts picked up the pace in the first 10 minutes of the second half in their search for an opener.

The introduction of eight Irish substitutes throughout the second period ultimately halted their momentum as the game fizzled out.

It was always a game that Hallgrimsson’s side just had to get through and they will quickly move onto June and preparing for the start of the Nations League in September.

Republic of Ireland: Caoimhin Kelleher (Mark Travers ’61); Séamus Coleman (James Abankwah ‘61 (Alan Browne ‘83)), John Egan (Jake O’Brien ‘72), Nathan Collins, Dara O’Shea, Liam Scales; Jayson Molumby (Harvey Vale ‘61), Jason Knight, Finn Azaz (Bosun Lawal ‘61); Chiedozie Ogbene (Johnny Kenny ‘83), Troy Parrott (Adam Idah ‘72).

North Macedonia: Stole Dimitrievski; Imran Fetai (Visar Musliu ‘66), Gjoko Zajkov, Darko Velkovski (Nikola Serafimov ‘46); Darko Churlinov (Lupjche Doriev ‘60), Isnik Alimi (Luka Stankovski ‘60), Tihomir Kostadinov (Boban Nikolov ‘60), Sebastian Herrera; Enis Bardhi (capt) (Milan Ristovski ‘46), Eljif Elmas (Reshat Ramadani ‘60 (Egzon Bejtulai ‘71)); Elmin Rastoder (Daniel Musovski ‘46)

Referee: Iwan Arwel Griffith (Wales)