Ireland played out a one all draw with hosts Poland in a friendly international which took place in Wroclaw this evening. This was a massively improved showing from that of Thursday last although the intensity of a competitive encounter was missing. A much changed side, there were six changes to the starting eleven, actually sought to retain possession and pass the ball unlike a whole plethora of previous matches where the ‘hot potato’ syndrome reigned. There were a number of quality performances and one must hope that patience and perseverance is the order of the day in forthcoming contests. John Egan, playing in the centre of a back three, caught the eye with his dogged determination and successful tackle ratio while Shaun Williams was the picture of composure in the holding midfield role. Debutant Aiden O’Brien surprised with the quality of his target man performance and capped a fine performance with the goal while the energy, industry, perseverance and quality control displayed by Callum O’Dowda, creator of the goal, made him the unquestionable star of the show. The multitude of second half substitutions did dilute matters and permitted the hosts to equalise with just minutes remaining but as previously mentioned, let us now show the requisite patience and perseverance and permit these international novices to lead us into the future.