Ireland sign off season with low-key draw in Luxembourg
The Republic of Ireland ended their season with a largely underwhelming 0-0 draw away to Luxembourg.
Following the 1-1 draw with Senegal last Friday, manager Heimir Hallgrimsson made five personnel changes, including a debut for goalkeeper Max O'Leary.
The 'end-of-term' vibes were evident at Stade de Luxembourg as Ireland struggled to find any real rhythm against a side ranked 91st in the world, hitting the woodwork in both halves without looking like cutting the hosts apart.
The opening period saw Luxembourg create more chances, yet it was the Boys in Green that went closest to breaking the deadlock.
In a scrappy affair, it was just short of the half-hour mark before a meaningful goalscoring opportunity was created.
Evan Ferguson coughed up possession in midfield and Luxembourg's most industrious player, Danel Sinani, struck a crisp effort that required debutant O'Leary to go at full-stretch to keep out.
The hosts looked the more likely to score but three minutes before the interval it was the woodwork that denied Hallgrimmson's side the lead.
Dara O'Shea was there to meet the free-kick and guided it toward goal where his defensive partner Nathan Collins got his head to it, the captain's effort bouncing back off the bar.
42 mins: 🇱🇺 LUX 0-0 🇮🇪 IRL
Nathan Collins hits the woodwork from a rebounded free kick just before half-time.
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Kasey McAteer – from close range – and substitute Jack Taylor from outside the area both saw efforts fizz wide, while Parrott couldn't sort his feet out in the area shortly after the resumption to threaten the Luxembourg goal.
Parrott had the ball in the back of the net in the 65th minute, but the offside flag went straight up.
65mins: 🇱🇺 LUX 0-0 🇮🇪 IRL
One off the post in the first-half by Collins and another chance off side in the second, this time from Parrott. A great finish but flag goes straight up for an obvious early run.
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Adam Idah and Matt Doherty were sprung from the Irish bench to provide some offensive spark, but the closest either side came to finding the back of the net was Taylor rattling the crossbar in the 87th minute with a rasping drive from outside the area.
The only thing of note in the concluding stages was the international debut handed to John Joe Patrick Finn, the French-based, Spanish-born midfielder from French Ligue 2 club Reims who replaced Jason Knight in the engine room in the final minute.
The Republic's next outing is a crunch home game with Hungary on 6 September where Hungary will be the visitors for the opening game in World Cup qualification.
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