Match Summary

Republic of Ireland Team

England Team

Dear oh dear, this was a poor match!  In the context of the next games for each of these countries, the friendly was important in preparing for two vital European Championship games on the following weekend.  England in Slovenia and The Republic, hosting the visit of Scotland.  The trouble was, that on the day, both sets of players showed the rustiness of not having played for several weeks, and neither side had the guile or the sharpness to forge a decent chance, let alone a goal!

True, there were some good, solid defensive performances, but against such powder-puff and ineffectual forward play, defending was fairly simple.  The first 25 minutes of the game was incident-free.  There were a few crosses into the boxes and Ireland busied themselves in the way Martin O'Neill likes his sides to be, but England showed little in attack, despite some useful possession from Jack Wilshere.  The first half-chance came on 27 minutes when Daryl Murphy powered his way through and fired in a shot at goal.  Joe Hart touched it wide of the post but then saw the referee give a goal kick, thus depriving the keeper of a good save.  Seven minutes later it was Murphy again, this time heading wide when well placed, he really should have scored with that chance. And that was it, basically, for a first-half that was sterile and lacking in anything resembling a football match.

Three minutes after the restart, Wayne Rooney broke clear following a Jordan Henderson pass, but for once the England skipper's touch let him down and the chance was lost.  A dangerous cross into the box for Ireland almost deceived Hart, and then Rooney's weak free-kick was easily saved.  Walters shot straight at Hart before England made some changes on 65 minutes.  To no avail though as the game continued along in the dreary pattern we had become accustomed to since the first whistle.

One high spot of the match saw Leicester City's Jamie Vardy make his England debut, coming on for Rooney in the 74th minute.  Not bad for a lad who came out of the non-league game just five years ago to become a full England international!  Unfortunately, his dream debut did not provide him with a dream ending as he hardly had a touch in the 16 minutes he was on the field.

And sadly there was nothing else to report as the game petered out to the inevitable goalless draw.  To be honest both teams were lucky to get nil!  Not to worry, we are saving ourselves for the big one in Slovenia, just hope that the team turns up for that one and the rustiness and cobwebs are out of their system.  England's man-of-the-match?  Ummm, that's a hard one?
   

Source Notes