Players keep powder dry

Wales 0 Republic of Ireland 0

At least the statisticians had something to write home about. By the time all the subs had been introduced, Ireland had gone through no less than four captains in the 90 minutes — John O’Shea, Shane Long, Seamus Coleman and Jon Walters. But other notable match points were rather thin on the ground.

Before the game, Anthony Pilkington — ruled out of his fifth successive Irish squad through injury — had tweeted his best wishes to the Irish team. “Gutted I’m not there,” he said, “fingers crossed I’m back fit in time for the games next month.” And, for good measure, he later added a picture of himself and his kids, with the little ones decked out in green shirts.