In a game with so little riding on it, it was perhaps little surprise that one of the main talking points both before and after the goalless draw with North Macedonoia was the international future of Séamus Coleman.
The 37-year-old batted away questions around his international intentions following the heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat in Prague last week and his future intentions have been one of the main topics leading into the game with so little at stake on the pitch.
The loudest cheer of the night arguably came when he was replaced by debutant James Abankwah in the second half after another impressive display in a green jersey.
Game time at Everton, where his contract runs out at the end of June, has been hard to come by, but he has been a key part of the recent Irish revival.
Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson says he is hopeful that the Donegal man, who will turn 40 shortly after A Euro 2028 tournament that sees games hosted in Dublin, will stay on.
"We had a good talk," he told RTÉ Sport. "We want him to (be here) be as long as he can. Obviously it is always going to be his decision and it is connected to what he does at his club, but our desire is to keep him. He is really important for this squad.
"Why should he retire?"
Reflecting on the game itself, the 58-year-old admitted it was a tricky fixture in terms of motivation, but was happy that the hosts grew into the game with the post, offside flag (twice) and some below-par shooting ensuring a stalemate.
"We were happy with the second half," he said. "It was a strange game, and it was always going to be a strange game. It's difficult to come in flying in these matches.
"We grew as the game went on. They wanted to lower the tempo as much as they could. First half they dropped deep and it was difficult to press them, second half we decided to go man for man, and a little higher and that caused them problems. Maybe we should have done that earlier.
"I think it was a good performance considering the circumstances after what happened in Czechia. It was a friendly, but we showed good desire to win the game. We were very happy with the second half."
With Bosun Lawal - pictured above - and James Abankwah making their international bows, and Johnny Kenny and Harvey Vale on for their second caps respectively, Hallgrimsson says the future is bright as he builds more strength-in-depth to the squad.
"We can slowly integrate them into the team, give them a chance to grow within the squad. They are all clever guys and I expect good things from them in the near future."
