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Defeat to Iceland, but fringe players give O'Neill food for thought

Martin O'Neill spoke on Monday about the value of international friendlies. The value of tonight's 1...
TodayFM
TodayFM

9:52 PM - 28 Mar 2017



Defeat to Iceland, but fringe...

Sport

Defeat to Iceland, but fringe players give O'Neill food for thought

TodayFM
TodayFM

9:52 PM - 28 Mar 2017



Martin O'Neill spoke on Monday about the value of international friendlies.

The value of tonight's 1-0 defeat against Iceland might not have been apparent throughout the 90 minutes, but it may prove to be of benefit to O'Neill in the long term.

Injuries dictated that fringe players were to be given a chance, and the first benefactors were John Egan and Conor Hourihane, given their debuts in the starting team. Egan was given a robust welcome to the international game, barely two minutes were on the clock before he was getting bandaged up on the sideline after catching a stray arm. The Brentford defender was committed but raw, conceding the free kick that was curled into the bottom corner by Hordur Magnusson.

One fringe player that did look promising was Aberdeen winger Jonny Hayes, earning his third cap for the Republic. His opportunities on the ball were limited, but he was a threatening presence on the wing in his 60 minute run.

Hayes was replaced with Daryl Horgan for his International debut, while at the same time his Preston teammate Andy Boyle was also summoned off the bench in place of John Egan.

Martin O'Neill will like what he saw from Horgan, who put in two dangerous crosses within minutes of entering the game. The first was a low left-footed drive which James McClean couldn't get on the end of it. Shortly after, he stayed on his left, with his cross evading goalkeeper Ogmundur Kristinsson, but there was nobody at the back post to finish the job.

He wasn't the only substitute to impress. Eunan O'Kane looked comfortable and commanding on the ball in midfield, while Callum O'Dowda carved out what was Ireland's best chance of the game, but after weaving in off the right wing, his shot from the edge of the are was blocked out for a corner kick.

The longer the game wore on, the better Martin O'Neill's side looked, and O'Dowda, Horgan and O'Kane's displays were reassuring, in spite of the result.

And while Iceland were without much of their Euro 2016 stars, it's a defeat that probably won't give Martin O'Neill or Roy Keane many sleepless nights. 



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