Scoreless at the break in Croker

HALF TIME: Republic of Ireland 0 France 0

Giovanni Trapattoni’s World Cup masterplan remained intact 45 minutes into the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup play-off first leg with France.

Striker Andre-Pierre Gignac had an 11th-minute strike correctly ruled out for offside while at the other end, goalkeeper Hugo Lloris made a point-blank save from Robbie Keane not knowing that the flag had gone up for a foul.

But the visitors enjoyed marginally the better of the first half and captain Thierry Henry fired just wide six minutes before the break.