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Friendly frustration as Ireland held by North Macedonia

Updated / Tuesday, 31 Mar 2026 22:36
Troy Parrott of Republic of Ireland is tackled by Imran Fetai of North Macedonia during the international friendly match between Republic of Ireland and North Macedonia at Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Troy Parrott walked away from this challenge shortly before half time

The Republic of Ireland were unable to soothe the pain from Prague with victory as Heimir Hallgrimsson's side were held to a 0-0 draw by North Macedonia in their friendly at Aviva Stadium.

If the penalty shootout in Czechia last Thursday had gone the Boys in Green’s way, this would have been a play-off decider with a World Cup spot at stake.

Instead, it was the Czechs and Denmark vying for that miles away from here, while Ireland and their visitors were left to battle it out in a fixture with nothing to play for.

There had been uncertainty about the scale of the attendance in the wake of last week’s disappointing outcome. But officially 39,560 souls were distributed within the stadium.

However, they did not get to witness the morale-boosting win that might have - only slightly - helped to lift spirits.

If Ireland's players could be forgiven for being subdued after the painful events in Prague, the North Macedonians were perhaps on an even lower ebb.

They had been dispatched 4-0 by Denmark on Thursday and unlike Ireland who had a momentous November, the Balkan nation suffered a 7-1 humiliation that month at the hands of Wales.

They made four changes but had also seen veteran Aleksandar Trajkovski and Rangers’ Bojan Miovski not make the trip to Dublin.

Hallgrimsson, meanwhile, kept his promise of minimal changes with just three - Liam Scales, John Egan and Jason Knight coming in for Ryan Manning, Jake O’Brien and the unavailable Jack Taylor.

It was Ireland who started on the front foot inside a venue with pockets of empty seats dotted around. But those early forays down the flanks did not greatly trouble their opponents.

The first half-chance fell to Chiedozie Ogbene in the 15th minute after a crossfield pass from Dara O’Shea found Séamus Coleman in the box. The 37-year-old headed it down for Ogbene but the Corkman’s strike deflected over for the second Irish corner of the game.

The North Macedonians, perhaps wary off the back of recent humblings, sat in a solid shape which restricted the tempo of the first half.

On 18 minutes, they ventured forward with Sebastian Herrera earning a free-kick in a dangerous position 20 yards out.

Napoli’s Ejlif Elmas and captain Enis Bardhi stood over it, before the latter struck an effort that deflected off the Irish wall and forced Caoimhín Kelleher into a diving save to his left.

Five minutes later, Troy Parrott had a tame header saved by Stole Dimitrievski after a looped ball in from the right.

Ireland pushed again on 24 minutes, Finn Azaz bursting through to win a free kick just outside the North Macedonian area.

The Southampton playmaker dusted himself down to take the set-piece but his curling strike flew well over the bar.

The game kicked back into life eight minutes before half-time as Knight threaded a pass through for Parrott.

The striker turned inside Darko Velkovski but also could not keep his shot down.

He had an even better chance shortly after when Azaz lofted a ball over the head of Velkovski. But Parrott could not direct the bouncing ball goalwards.

A minute later though, a challenge from defender Imran Fetai saw the AZ Alkmaar striker’s leg buckle. However, much to the relief of those in the Aviva he was able to walk away unscathed after briefly requiring the attention of the physios.

The hero of Budapest would have the ball in the net just before the interval after latching onto a through ball from Azaz but was marginally offside as the sides went in scoreless.

Parrott started the second half as he finished the first, hitting the post with a swivelling strike on 52 minutes after good interchanges from Azaz and Coleman.

Azaz then had a pop from distance but couldn’t quite bend his shot in from an inside left position and then Ogbene was more wayward with a shot from 25 yards.

In the 59th minute, Parrott teed up Knight for a strike outside the box but the Bristol City captain’s effort took a nick on its way wide.

Hallgrimsson began to ring the changes with Bosun Lawal and James Abankwah coming on for their first senior caps and Harvey Vale making his full debut after an extra-time cameo in Prague.

The ever popular Coleman was among those withdrawn, with the Donegal man earning a standing ovation from the home faithful amid uncertainty over whether this night would be his last in green.

Shortly after the first quartet of changes - which also saw Kelleher replaced in goal by Mark Travers - Parrott almost set up a goal as he laid a ball back for Scales. However, the Celtic defender saw his low shot blocked.

Lawal was bright in his first steps as a senior international, with one clever spin to evade North Macedonian markers resulting in a match-ending injury to sub Reshat Ramadani.

But with Parrott among a raft of changes as the game ticked towards the final 20 minutes, the rhythm understandably began to wane.

Abankwah’s debut, meanwhile, would only last 20 minutes with the Watford defender clearly devastated as he was helped off on 83 minutes after a coming together with Herrera.

North Macedonia had barely threatened in the second half but a whipped ball from the left by that man Herrera almost found half-time Daniel Musovski to serve notice that a sting in the tail was still possible.

With a goalless draw beckoning, Johnny Kenny had a good chance to snatch a late winner after Adam Idah’s clever backheel found him in space in the fourth minute of the seven added minutes.

But the Sligo man’s near post shot was saved and that would ultimately be that on a frustrating outing for Hallgrimsson’s side.

Republic of Ireland: Caoimhin Kelleher (Mark Travers '61); Séamus Coleman (James Abankwah ‘61 (Alan Browne ‘83)), John Egan (Jake O’Brien ‘72), Nathan Collins, Dara O'Shea, Liam Scales; Jayson Molumby (Harvey Vale ‘61), Jason Knight, Finn Azaz (Bosun Lawal ‘61); Chiedozie Ogbene (Johnny Kenny ‘83), Troy Parrott (Adam Idah ‘72).

North Macedonia: Stole Dimitrievski; Imran Fetai (Visar Musliu ‘66), Gjoko Zajkov, Darko Velkovski (Nikola Serafimov ‘46); Darko Churlinov (Lupjche Doriev ‘60), Isnik Alimi (Luka Stankovski ‘60), Tihomir Kostadinov (Boban Nikolov ‘60), Sebastian Herrera; Enis Bardhi (capt) (Milan Ristovski ‘46), Eljif Elmas (Reshat Ramadani ‘60 (Egzon Bejtulai ‘71)); Elmin Rastoder (Daniel Musovski ‘46)

Referee: Iwan Arwel Griffith (Wales)

Attendance: 39,560

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