Trapattoni resists call for one giant leap

A leap year game, maybe, but by no stretch of the imagination was this a leap into the unknown for Ireland.

On a night when James McCarthy, Shane Duffy and Seamus Coleman were left cooling their heels on the bench, James McClean had to wait until 12 minutes from the end at the Aviva Stadium before finally making his Ireland debut to a tumultuous reception from the crowd.

But it was another substitute, Simon Cox, who rescued a draw for the home side with just four minutes left, scoring a terrific individual goal to cancel out Milan Baros’ effort for the Czech Republic and extend Ireland ’s unbeaten run to 12 games.