Ireland’s World Cup 2018 campaign got off to a stuttering start last night with a 2-2 draw away to Serbia.

Before the game, the hope had been that Ireland would build on the momentum generated during our – mostly – hugely positive performances at Euro 2016. And for the first ten minutes, it looked as if we indeed might do that.

With just three minutes gone, right-sided midfielder Jeff Hendrick opened the scoring with a shot from outside the area that took a deflection off Serbian captain, Branislav Ivanovich. It was the proverbial perfect start. And Ireland almost got a second soon afterwards.

But it became clear pretty quickly, as the first half progressed, that Serbia were much more confident and comfortable on the ball. They gradually asserted their dominance, owning the ball for lengthy passages of slick passing, with Ireland having to defend desperately at times.

The Irish gameplan seemed to be to whack it long at every opportunity. But it was a futile exercise. Whatever the Hungarian referee, Viktor Kassai, had taken before the game, he seemed to see things with one eye only. As long balls were pumped forward, he constantly penalised Shane Long and Jonathan Walters for the most innocuous of alleged offences, while letting similar incidents involving Serbians go. In a similar one-sided vein, he dished out totally undeserved yellow cards during the first half to Stephen Ward (for what was an entirely legitimate challenge) and Jeff Hendrick (who was jumping for the ball). At every turn Ireland were frustrated.

It seemed extraordinary that they would persist with an approach that was so obviously failing, with possession being gifted back to Serbia again and again. But they did. Instead of giving the ball to the full backs or playing it across the back to kill time, relieve pressure and frustrate the opposition, the ball was rushed forward far too quickly – only to come back in the possession of a technically accomplished Serbian midfield.

Ireland held out till half-time, and went in leading 1-0. But watching the game, you sensed that – unless Martin O’Neill changed something tactically – it was only a matter of time before Serbia equalised. There were no switches at the interval, and the inevitable finally happened on 63 minutes. There was an element of luck about the goal. John O’Shea was unfortunate in a 50-50 challenge and the ball spun into the space behind him. Seamus Coleman had been sucked in, and the ball was pushed into the inside right channel for Filip Kostic, who slotted it home confidently.

The hope was that Martin O’Neill might introduce Wes Hoolahan at that stage, with the instruction to bring a bit of composure to the Irish play. Instead Stephen Quinn was pressed into service – replacing Stephen Ward, with Robbie Brady dropping in to left-back – but he added little in terms of guile and Serbia continued to dominate.

That they would take the lead seemed inevitable, though there was no justice about the way it happened. In the 70th minute, a Serbian attacker got his body across Jonathan Walters on the edge of the Irish penalty area, and the Stoke City forward pulled out of the challenge. The Serbian went to ground anyway and the referee pointed to the spot. It was another basic error in what really was a terrible display of refereeing that had all the hallmarks of bias. Dusan Tadic tucked the penalty away with easy panache. 2-1.

It was only then that Ireland began to attack again with any purpose. Defensively, however, there was a further scare when Darren Randolph spilled a shot into the path of Andrija Pavlovic – who blazed wildly against the crossbar. The ball bounced away and was cleared by the Irish defence – and we were able to breathe again. At the other end, Ireland had a goal by Jon Walters disallowed for offside and, while the margin might have been tight, the decision was probably correct.

O’Neill introduced Daryl Murphy – and you could say that it proved to be an inspired move, with the Newcastle forward claiming his first international goal with a fine header following a Robbie Brady corner. 2-2.

Wes Hoolahan remained on the bench. So did Harry Arter. O’Neill's final substitution was to bring Ciaran Clark on for Shane Long. It was that kind of evening. Serbia looked the more likely to score in the dying minutes, but Ireland held out. It was, in the end, a scrappy and barely deserved draw. But, in the background, there was a feeling that if the referee had not given so many stupid decisions against us during the first half, that the game might have shaped up differently.

After the final whistle, Martin O’Neill insisted that it was a great result, to get a draw in Serbia. If he is right, then they are probably the team to beat. But with Wales and Austria – the latter winning 2-1 on a tricky assignment away to Georgia – claiming three points, the group has the appearance of one that will be closely contested between four teams. If we’re lucky that is.

Certainly, it will require far better performances than we delivered tonight to make it through. Ireland’s football was turgid and lacking in imagination or finesse. And the result was that none of the outfield players gave a better than 6 out of 10 performance.

7. Darren Randolph: Given the Man of the Match by Ronnie Whelan – and just about deservedly so. Made a number of fine stops. Lucky to get away with one he spilled and he palmed one cross straight to a Serbian attacker – but otherwise it was an excellent performance.

6. Seamus Coleman: Didn’t get forward at all until after Serbia took the lead. Might have been faulted for the first Serbian goal – but made a couple of superb clearances off the line that more than made up.

6. John O’Shea: Gave the ball away badly on a couple of occasions but overall he did reasonably well. Was instrumental in making the first Irish goal, delivering the cross that Shane Long touched back to Jeff Hendrick.

6. Richard Keogh: Showed surprising pace to make a couple of vital interceptions. Achieved nothing constructive – but, to be fair, defended stoutly.

6. Stephen Ward: Defended extremely well on more than one occasion in the first half. His booking was entirely unjustified – and was probably why he was substituted.

6. Jeff Hendrick: Took his goal well and did some excellent defensive work. Is impressively strong and knows how to pass. But never really established a grip on the game.

5. Glen Whelan: Making him the whipping boy for Ireland’s failures – as Eamon Dunphy tends to do – is unfair, but he had an undistinguished evening, contributing little going forward and looking slightly off the pace defensively.

6. Robbie Brady: Delivered some excellent balls from set-pieces, which troubled the Serbian defence. Looked good at times and broke forward well once or twice, but didn’t do anything to set the game alight.

6. Jonathan Walters: Put in a good shift, but never really got going in attack. Bottled up by the Serbs – and got no change from the referee. It might have made all the difference if he hadn’t strayed offside before putting the ball in the back of the Serbian net.

6. Shane Long: Has to be one of the most traduced players on the international stage. Constantly pulled-up by the referee for absolutely nothing. Showed on couple of occasions just how dangerous he could be if he was given any kind of service – but generally was forced to chase lost causes.

5. James McClean: Played with his usual gusto – but he was too easily dispossessed on a couple of occasions and never really hurt the opposition. Not a great night for one of Ireland’s big hopes.

SUBS

6. Stephen Quinn: Did reasonably well when he came on, in a tidy sort of way, but was never going to cut the opposition open

7. Daryl Murphy: You can only mark someone on the time they were on the pitch and Murphy delivered superbly with a fine header.

MANAGER
5. Martin O’Neill: Did he really tell Darren Randolph to pump the ball forward every time? Why did Ireland revert to a horrible style of football which the Euros had suggested might best to be consigned to the past? Maybe O'Neill thought the pitch was too treacherous to play ball on – but the Serbs succeeded. At the very least we need to mix things up – go long, go short, play it across the back, go long again – and so on. Instead, what we saw was desperately sterile stuff. Ireland dropped off in a way that almost guaranteed Serbia would score. Martin O’Neill has to instill in his players that there is a better way, which begins with using your heads, individually and collectively, to keep the ball. That didn’t happen last night and Ireland almost paid the ultimate price.