Two of the six added minutes to go and as the Republic of Ireland players fought for possession in the Polish half, and a debatable throw-in went the home side’s way, Martin O’Neill appealed in vain and was given a terse warning by the fourth official.

With his number two Roy Keane skulking behind him, and watching the officious official closely with those dark eyes, O’Neill was reminded of the markings of his technical territory.

The Ireland boss had made the cardinal managerial sin of stepping outside the technical area, even venturing on to the white touchline at one point and he was quickly sent back by Slovakian fourth official Daniel Stefanski.

O’Neill duly apologised, flicking his hand up in acknowledgement. He then turned to the pitch immediately to watch as Arsenal’s Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny prepared to launch another missile into the Irish penalty area.

It was only a friendly, only a freezing cold night out and only a football match on a beach of a pitch in Poznan. But O’Neill and Keane don’t understand the concept of losing any game. They wanted to see out the goalless draw.

Nothing else mattered. He had come to Poland, not to bury the memories of Euro 2012 like so many others, but to continue the good work of the last fortnight. The frustration for the management team now is that their players depart to their clubs from Dublin today and will be involved in league and cup action for four months before they next meet up for the friendly against Serbia in March. Welcome to international football lads.

Although far from the most entertaining goalless draw, it was still a job well done for an experimental Irish team. It’s not just Poznan that has changed significantly since the city hosted Ireland’s two Euro 2012 games.

The two teams representing Poland and Ireland, who both had disappointing tournaments, have undergone major surgery and change of management, and the pitch too bore no resemblance to the slick surface which was produced for the eyes of Europe and the world to admire 18 months ago.

Who knows where the cash earned from hosting those finals games had been spent? It certainly hadn’t gone to the groundsman and the pitch was closer to the beaches of Sopot where the players stayed during June 2012, than a ground prepared to host an international match.

In an early, and slightly bizarre indication of things to come, several dancers among the cheerleaders who performed minutes before kick-off slipped and tripped on the rutted ground. And as David Forde discovered in the warm-up, and the game, it was not a surface for attempting to play any football on.

The Millwall keeper, recalled by O’Neill in place of Keiren Westwood, almost spilled what should have been a routine shot from Polish left back Adam Marciniak, which flipped off the surface at an awkward moment, almost forcing him to spill the ball.

Robert Lewandowski anticipated the danger of the Ireland keeper but only managed to kick sand into Forde’s face rather than the ball. It was one of a number of promising moves down the Polish left to test Stephen Kelly.

The enterprising Marciniak launched a deep cross into the area which Krzysztof Maczynski met with a firm header, only for his effort to fly harmlessly over. In the second minute of the second half, Poland captain Jakub Blaszczykowski powered into the area past Kelly and substitute John O’Shea with a couple of stepovers before losing control at the vital second, allowing Forde to make a scrambling save at his feet.

Keeper David Forde needed two attempts to claim Blaszczykowski’s 25th-minute shot as it skidded across the uneven surface, and defender Adam Marciniak lifted a header harmlessly over 11 minutes later.

However, Ireland largely managed to contain the tricky Lewandowski, although substitute John O’Shea – he had replaced the injured Sean St Ledger after just 31 minutes – was booked for deliberate handball after being caught out by the striker.

Blaszczykowski very nearly got the second half off to the perfect start for the Poles when he carved his way between Kelly and midfielder James McCarthy and into the penalty area, and he might have gone all the way had O’Shea not intervened at the decisive moment.

Ireland’s main danger came from the left too, with Aiden McGeady in particular catching the eye in the opening stages with a number of runs at his marker. Marc Wilson could also have done better with a flighted free-kick from the winger but glanced his header wide.

In fact the former Celtic man provided the first Ireland shot of the night when he drilled in a low effort which thumped off the studs of marker Piotr Celeban into the side netting.

From the resulting corner, Stephen Kelly was found unmarked but he failed to hit the target with a free header and the ball looped over the bar. Soon after, in the 32nd minute, Sean St Ledger fell to the ground and was replaced by O’Shea. O’Neill made seven changes to the side which won so convincingly over Latvia, delivering on his promise to field as many players as he could during this two-game debut period.

The inclusions of Stephen Ward, Wilson, James McCarthy and McGeady from Friday’s starting line-up meant only Alex Pearce and Newcastle’s sub keeper Rob Elliot had not played some part in the two matches ahead of kick-off.

And Pearce got half an hour at the end. An experimentation and a gamble at the same time, it showed the maximum use of players in the squad was O’Neill’s priority, rather than the result but then opposite number Adam Nawalka, also in charge of the Poles for only his second game, had vowed to blood younger players who had impressed domestically.

Nawalka made eight changes to the side which lost to Slovakia on Friday night, despite receiving heavy criticism, and in those closing minutes they had the better possession without seriously troubling Forde. Tomasz Jodlowiec drilled a shot harmlessly over from a mile out and Piotr Cwielong might have done better with a low shot in the last 10 minutes.

In fact the best chance of the night fell to an Ireland player when substitute James McClean showed rare ambition to power past Celeban and his smart centre skimmed off Long’s toes and flew to safety. O’Neill did a mini-leap expecting a winner. But it will be a while before he has that feeling again.

—Daily Mail