Friendly frustration as Ireland sign off with North Macedonia stalemate 

Supporters took the chance to salute their team.

Ireland's Johnny Kenny after the match. Pic: INPHO/Ben Brady

IRELAND 0 NORTH MACEDONIA 0 

Maybe it was no harm for the nostalgic reruns that it took until a meaningless friendly for Troy Parrott’s clinical streak to finally escape him.

Almost 40,000 fans turned up with a game with nothing at stake but pride and an opportunity to salute heroes who made them believe again.

Fellow beaten playoff semi-finalist North Macedonia didn’t want to be in Dublin either but they were the relieved team trudging off the pitch following this stalemate.

That Ireland were generally ponderous in attack, and Parrott unusually profligate, will be forgiven once the purpose returns later in the year for the competitive return.

Heimir Hallgrímsson stayed true to his promise of making minimal changes to the team that fared so well for so long in Prague last Thursday, introducing three newcomers.

One was enforced, with the withdrawn Jack Taylor creating a vacancy for Jason Knight to occupy. Liam Scales, on his return from suspension, replaced Ryan Manning at left wing-back while John Egan was a straight swap for fellow Corkman Jake O’Brien within the three-man defensive unit.

The Icelander is determined to enhance the foundations he oversaw over a campaign that slumped early in Yerevan before peaking in Budapest.

What unravelled most recently against a Czechia side heading to the World Cup must be digested as indicative of a brighter future whereby the manager’s imprint, or values as he entitles them, are visible in his team.

That was the case here for the hour he kept the team intact. Having seven competitive games since his last friendly stymied scope to risk selection and tactics, rendering this workout as the first opportunity for nine months to engage in some experimentation. Getting Bosun Lawal and James Abankwah on the pitch for debuts was part of the script.

Ireland were fluid and functional in the first half, albeit fitful in attack. Parrott would leave the pitch with 20 minutes remaining, baffled at how he didn’t become the first player since Robbie Keane in 2011 to score in four successive Ireland matches.

Before his profligacy and momentary lapses in timing his runs came misses from other protagonists.

Dara O’Shea’s diagonal pass from his position on the left side of the back-three are now synonymous with this manager’s gameplan and two inside the opening 15 minutes almost forced a breakthrough.

From a half-cleared 10th-minute corner, Scales found O’Shea, whose crossfield ball landed on the head of Egan, only for his fellow defender to lose his footing.

Five minutes later and another raking scud towards Séamus Coleman had the visitors scrambling. Chiedozie Ogbene was the gleeful recipient of the loose ball to tee up a shot from 10 yards but it was deflected out for a corner.

Some respite from the early one-way traffic came in the form of North Macedonia being gifted a free on the edge of the Ireland box by Ogbene careering into the back of Sebastian Herera.

The free from captain Enis Bardhi caught the boot off Jayson Molumby in the wall, taking the sting off it and allowing Caoimhín Kelleher to easily bat the attempt away for a corner.

That would amount to Kelleher’s workload as a one-man show from Parrott ensued.

His first header on 24 minutes from Molumby’s floated cross didn’t trouble Stole Dimitrievski but the veteran goalkeeper from Valencia was thankful for not being breached by Ireland’s marksman by the interval.

Twice approaching the interval Parrott did beat him but on each occasion, the flag was raised. The second seemed to be the marginal call but the use of VAR for a friendly removed any doubt.

Where Parrott could have no complaints, except for at himself, was the sitter he squandered six minutes before the break.

Defender Darko Velkovski was completely disoriented by a Finn Azaz lob into the box, nodding the ball directly into the path of the 24-year-old.

For once in this season of 32 goals, potency and poise eluded him as he was unable to keep his effort from point-blank range under the crossbar.

The same blemish had afflicted Azaz earlier with a free-kick on the edge of the box but he would intricately combine with Coleman seven minutes after the break to release Parrott.

While he’s converted from trickier situations for Ireland and AZ Alkmaar this term, the ball landing at his feet with his back to goal was conducive to a neat swivel. The angle wasn’t kind to him to prevent the shot striking the foot of the post.

Azaz whipped a shot on the run past the far post and Molumby’s thunderbolt from an identical position he clattered the post with in Prague this time clipped a visiting player on the way to earning a corner.

Ireland bossed that count by eight to one but it didn’t reflect in the scoreline.

Hallgrímsson availed of Fifa’s expanding the substitution allowance to eight and the changes in attack offered a different dimension.

Adam Idah’s powerful sprints were smothered for the most part. The sole sight on goal he got, with a stoppage-time free on the edge of the box, was wasted by driving his shot straight into the wall.

He was accompanied by Johnny Kenny in attack during that rescue act in Budapest and the duo were close to tunnelling a late salvo. Idah’s backheel from the endline to his fellow substitute created space to slot into the corner but his former Celtic teammate was unable to spot the gap, firing directly in the large frame of Dimitrievski.

He rejoiced at full-time, an expression nobody saw coming from both teams when their World Cup odyssey was torpedoed five days earlier.

IRELAND: C Kelleher (M Travers 61); J Egan (J O’Brien 72), N Collins, D O’Shea; S Coleman (J Abankwah 62 – A Browne 84), J Knight, J Molumby (B Lawal 62), L Scales: C Ogbene (J Kenny 84), F Azaz (H Vale 61); T Parrott (A Idah 72).

NORTH MACEDONIA: S Dimitrievski; G Zajkov, A Stojchevski, I Fetai; S Herera, D Velkovski, D Churlinov, I Alimi, E Bardhi, E Elmas, E Rastoder Referee: Iwan Arwel Griffith (WAL) 

Attendance: 39,560