Comment: Ireland a penalty miss from making the most of a hard sell

There was plenty of empty seats but those who were there saw a good evening's work from the home side.

Republic of Ireland interim head coach John O'Shea after the international friendly. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

No new manager. No tournament in the summer to whet the appetite. No Kevin De Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois or Romelu Lukaku in the opposition ranks. The result was always going to be rows of empty, green seats.

There’s probably no such thing as the ideal time or day for a game anymore, but Saturday at 5pm in Dublin, on what turned out to be a bitterly cold and windy March afternoon, is not the window you would choose when trying to sell interest in a friendly.