A test of how far this Ireland has come...and has yet to go

A night that was instructive rather than enthralling, as Ireland simply ran out of energy, and they didn’t quite offer the exhibition the new regime demanded.

Martin O’Neill said on the eve of the game that he wanted the team to “evolve” in terms of “style and pattern of play” but it is already following a few distinct trends of the Derry manager’s career.

At their best last night, Ireland resembled Celtic 2000-03. At their worst, there was the occasional haplessness of his recent Sunderland side.