Dunne, but not dusted, says Richard

There were any number of moments on Sunday night that indicated an Irish team playing below its best but perhaps none were more alarming than the sight of Richard Dunne being hounded out of possession in that fraught opening half.

The Aston Villa defender was the rock on which Ireland’s qualification for these European Championships was founded and to see him twist and turn with unusual hesitancy was, in retrospect, all too symbolic of an ultimately forgettable experience in Poznan.

Dunne and Ireland survived those mistakes but others were far more costly and all concerned will find themselves wrestling with the thoughts of just how untimely and untypical it all was of a team that has come to pride itself on its parsimoniousness.