The Republic of Ireland had to settle for a share of the spoils as they drew 1-1 with Senegal at Aviva Stadium.
The friendly international saw Heimir Hallgrimsson offer Kasey McAteer and Jack Taylor their first starts in green, and the former repaid the manager with the opening goal in the 21st minute and a man of the match performance.
The visitors came to life in the second half and duly fought their way back into the contest with a deserved equaliser eight minutes from time as substitute Ismaila Sarr found the back of the net.
The end of season friendly fixture failed to capture the imagination or intrigue of the football family, as Lansdowne Road was barely at half capacity as the game kicked off.
But the home side did their best to ignite the occasion early on with a front-foot approach to the game, with McAteer, on his first start, anxious to make an impact.
Within two minutes, the Leicester man burst into the box, coming in off the right to squeeze through a tight gap, however, the cross was too close to the keeper.
Senegal also looked to play their part in those opening exchanges as Abdallah Sima and Boulaye Dia linked well to force the first corner of the game.
And it nearly led to the opening goal as the ball was whipped to near post, as Dara O'Shea almost turned the ball into own net as he struggled with the pace and angle of the delivery.
In the 12th minute, O’Shea strode forward and cleverly feigned to go left before cutting back onto his right foot, drilling it wide to McAteer whose curling cross was aimed at Taylor to attack, but the Ipswich man could not connect.
The momentum was certainly building as the home side enjoyed a sustained spell in their opponents’ half and the first proper effort on goal arrived in the 18th minute following more good play up the right flank.
The ball was worked inside before breaking for the arriving Will Smallbone, but his half-volley flew well wide of the far post.
Three minutes later, Ireland took the lead as McAteer was rewarded for his early endeavours.
A corner from the left was arrowed to the back post and headed back to Ryan Manning, sitting deep on the edge of the box. A flick goalwards for Nathan Collins to help on before McAteer aerially attacked from close range.
A brilliant save from Yehvann Diouf denied McAteer, however, he was alert to the dropping ball and managed to take it under control, swivel and shoot to the back of the net.
The home side were buoyed by the goal and maintained the attacking play, pushing for an immediate second and while two decent moves from either flank followed, neither proved fruitful.
Thirty minutes in there was a noticeable drop in tempo as Ireland seemed happy to sit in for a while and allow Senegal possession.
Neat play, working the ball over and back, but without any sort of success, as the visitors looked to expose the right side of the Ireland defence, but were unable to make the most of the space when it was presented.
Antoine Mendy did manage to get into a goalscoring position at the back post as the angled delivery was not dealt with, however, he sliced wide of the near post, and that was as good as it got for the visitors as Ireland took the lead into the break.
Ireland were straight on the attack after the break and Diouf was again forced to make a fine save from Smallbone’s well-hit strike after he was played through a gaping hole in the visitors’ defence.
The parried effort fell right into the path of Manning, but his low effort was deflected wide of the near post.
Senegal kicked into life soon after with strong running from Habib Diarra down the left, which led to a looping Krepin Diatta header that was just dropping under the crossbar but vitally touched onto the woodwork by a full-stretch Kelleher.
Ireland managed to cope with a few minutes of Senegal at full flow before working the ball forward with Robbie Brady, Jason Knight and Manning playing some fine one-touch football, creating an opening for Taylor, however, his well-hit strike from outside the box cannoned off Adam Idah.
The danger was not cleared, however, and Manning’s trickery saw him race in behind, but again the ball across goal was unable to find a green jersey.
Evan Ferguson was introduced for Jack Taylor with around 30 minutes remaining and a minute later, the referee waved away a huge shout for a penalty as McAteer helped the ball inside Ismail Jakobs with the ball appearing to strike a stray hand – replays suggest the official got it right as the ball was blocked by the player’s knee.
Ireland survived another scare in the 68th minute as Iliman Ndiaye worked the ball back from the left, allowing Dia scramble a shot goalwards, which then took a wicked deflection off O’Shea to deceive Kelleher.
The ball hopped onto the near post and the keeper recovered admirably to scoop off the line before it was eventually cleared.
But Senegal were the better side as the second half progressed and they bagged their equaliser with eight minutes remaining.
Everton’s Ndiaye burst into life out on the right, skipping, too easily, past Andy Moran, who was just on the pitch, before working the ball across the box.
Cherif Ndiaye then helped it goalwards, and while Kelleher did well to save with his feet, Sarr was on hand to help home from close range.
Ireland 1-1 Senegal
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) June 6, 2025
The visitors have equalised through Crystal Palace winger Ismaila Sarr #COYBIG #IRLSEN
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The 90-minute mark arrived as Senegal won a free on the edge of the box, which took an age to take, with a delay in proceedings due to some pushing and shoving around the Ireland wall.
A disappointing effort in the end as the ball clipped the wall and was cleared to signal the end of a game that came to life in the second half, where Ireland failed to hang on against the impressive Senegal outfit.
Republic of Ireland: Caoimhín Kelleher; Matt Doherty (Jake O’Brien 67), Nathan Collins, Dara O'Shea, Robbie Brady (Liam Scales 85); Jason Knight, Jack Taylor (Evan Ferguson 58), Will Smallbone (Andrew Moran 81), Kasey McAteer (Festy Ebosele 81) , Ryan Manning (Killian Phillips 67); Adam Idah
Senegal: Yehvann Diouf; Antoine Mendy, Abdoulaye Seck, Abdou Diallo, Ismail Jakobs; Lamine Camara Mamadou (Cheikh Savanah 77), Krepin Diatta (Lamine Camara 63), Habib Diarra; Iliman Ndiaye, Abdallah Sima (Ismaila Sarr 63), Boulaye Dia (Cherif Ndiaye 77)
