The Republic of Ireland and North Macedonia played out a scoreless draw at the Aviva Stadium to conclude the international window. Despite the lack of goals, the home side delivered a dominant display, with Troy Parrott denied twice by the offside flag and once by the post.

The game also saw James Abankwah and Bosun Lawal make their senior Republic of Ireland debuts in the second half, while Harvey Vale made his senior home debut following his first appearance away in Prague.

Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson made three changes from the side that were defeated by Czechia last Thursday. The unavailable Jack Taylor was replaced in midfield by Jason Knight, while John Egan came in for Jake O’Brien. The returning Liam Scales also started, replacing Ryan Manning.

John Egan had the first sight of goal in the opening exchanges, meeting Dara O’Shea’s second ball from an initial corner at the back post, but the Irish defender could not direct his header goalwards. This was followed by a half-volley from Ogbene, after a clever knockdown from Coleman, which was deflected by Herera behind for a corner.

Caoimhín Kelleher made an excellent save in the 20th minute to deny Bardhi, diving brilliantly to push his curling free kick, which had bent around the Irish wall, around the post for a corner. Ireland responded almost immediately with an attack of their own, as Troy Parrott latched onto a floated pass in the North Macedonia area, but his low header was well saved by Dimitrievski.

Troy Parrott had another sight of goal in the 35th minute after an excellent through ball from the Irish defence. He turned in the area to evade two Macedonian defenders before curling a left-footed effort just over the bar. This was followed by another excellent move, with Azaz lifting the ball over the top for Parrott, who adjusted his feet well but could not keep his effort down.

Parrott had the ball in the net twice in the space of two minutes with two excellent finishes, but he was adjudged to be offside on both occasions as the game remained scoreless at half-time.

Troy Parrott was denied again in the 51st minute, this time by the post, following excellent link-up play between Azaz and Coleman. The Irish striker, despite having little space, turned well to strike a low effort that beat the goalkeeper but came back off the woodwork. This was followed by efforts from Azaz and Ogbene, but both were off target.

Ireland continued to press, with Ogbene testing Dimitrievski from a long ball into the area, but the Macedonian goalkeeper gathered the ball at the second attempt. North Macedonia had an opportunity to open the scoring when a dangerous cross from Herrera into the Irish area just evaded a late run into the box.

Ireland continued to press in added time, with Johnny Kenny winning a free kick in a promising position, but Adam Idah’s effort struck the wall and was cleared by the Macedonian defence.

Kenny then had a chance to win it in the final minute, forcing a smart save from Dimitrievski after Idah produced a brilliant backheel on the byline to set him up, but his effort was well saved for a corner.

Attention will now turn to the next international window, with upcoming friendlies against Grenada in Murcia, Qatar at the Aviva Stadium, and Canada in Montreal.

Republic of Ireland: Kelleher (GK) (Travers 61), Coleman (Abankwah 61) (Browne 83), Egan (O’Brien 71), Collins ©, O’Shea, Knight, Molumby (Vale 61), Scales, Ogbene (Kenny 83), Azaz (Lawal 61), Parrott (Idah 71).

Subs not used: Keeley (GK), Travers (GK), Manning, Dunne, Alli.

North Macedonia: Dimitrievski (GK), Fetai (Musliu 65), Velkovski (Serafimov 46), Zajkov, Herrera, Alimi, Kostadinov (Nikolov 59), Churlinov (Doriev 60), Elmas (Ramadani 59) (Bejtulai 71), Bardhi © (Ristovski 46), Rastoder (Musovski 46).

Subs not used: Iliev (GK), Shishkovski (GK), Stojchevski, Qamili, Stankovski.

Booked: Dimitrievski (MKD)

Sent off: None

Player of the Match: Troy Parrott

Referee: Iwan Arwel Griffith (WAL)

Attendance: 39,560