Willo Flood's 72nd minute header saved the Irish Under-21's blushes as they drew 1-1 with Cyprus, but Don Given's side have now gone eight games without a win.
With qualification for the UEFA Under-21 Championship a long forgotten dream, Givens opted to give debuts to Luton's Keith Keane and Marcos Painter of Birmingham.
However both were given rough ride by a Cypriot team that had clearly done its homework on their opponents.
Ireland conjured up two notable chances in the opening half, the first coming in the 21st minute with Keane the supplier from the right for Brentford's Jay Tabb to flick on to a wide-open Aiden McGeady.
After a controlling first touch, the 19-year-old Celtic winger cracked a left-foot drive through the six-yard box but his shot was inches wide of the right post.
Either side of McGeady's chance, it was Cyprus who created the opportunities, capitalising on the indecisiveness of a raw Irish defence, and they opened the scoring on the half-hour mark.
Irish defender Paul McShane, winning only his second cap, lost the ball to Anthos Solomou down by his own corner flag. That allowed the striker to play a low ball to an Antonis Panayi in the penalty area, and he slotted the ball home.
Ireland almost grabbed an equaliser on 42 minutes when Bohemian's Stephen Ward shaved the post with an angled drive through the six-yard box.
At that stage, there was the sense of another embarrassing defeat looming, but Ireland grew stronger as the game wore on and the sweltering temperatures began to dip.
In terms of possession, they enjoyed the lion's share of the second period, finally giving the 1,000-strong Irish following something to cheer in the 76th minute.
McGeady delivered a corner to the near post, with Coventry midfielder Flood - on loan from Manchester City - producing a surging run that ended with a flick header beyond Dimitris Stylianou.
Cyprus U-21:
Dimitris Stylianou, Periklis, Pavlou, Iona, Adonis Panagi, Paraskevas Christou, Georgos Panagi, Georgiades, Merkis, Loukas Stylianou, Solomou.
Subs: Asprogenis, Samaras, Eleftheriou, Theofanous, Savvas Christou, Dimitriou, Ilia.
Republic of Ireland U-21:
Henderson, Keane, Ward, Painter, Potter, O'Brien, Fitzgerald, McShane, Flood, Tabb, McGeady.
Subs: McStay, Quigley, Whelan, Sheehan, O'Donovan, Bermingham, Dicker.
Referee: Miroslaw Ryszka (Poland)
