Ireland 0 Switzerland 0: Whoever it is who ends up being in charge of this Irish side in January when the draw is made for the qualifying stages of Euro 2008 he is bound to be sure of one thing. Almost anything would be preferable to coming up against the Swiss again.

Three years ago their 2-1 win here at Lansdowne Road put an end to Mick McCarthy's reign. Not only were Ireland's hope of a place at next summer's World Cup completely crushed but the team's utter helplessness against a good but well short of awesome Swiss side has, it seems safe to say, spelt the end for his successor.

Ireland started the night with an outside chance of finishing first in their group, a position everyone in the camp had insisted beforehand, they would have taken 15 months ago. In the end, though, they had to settle for a rather dissatisfying fourth.

It is the lowest finish by an Irish side in a campaign for 20 years but a painfully fair reflection of the impact the team made on this group.

After so many earlier failed attempts by his teams to beat their better rivals in competitive games Kerr needed a win as much of his team did. He can have few complaints about the way things turned out, though, for the Irish were, if anything, lucky to get the single point last night.

In a game they desperately needed to win, the Irish started energetically and were flat out at the finish. In between, however, they barely created a serious scoring chance against a Swiss side that kept their composure admirably as the home side attempted to force the pace of the contest relentlessly upwards.

Pascal Zuberbuhler was widely viewed as the visitors' weak point but over 92 minutes of football he was barely asked a searching question by a blunt Irish strikeforce in which Robbie Keane was again second best.

At half-time, with the game scoreless but France already winning 3-0, it was apparent that whatever slim hope there had been of securing automatic qualification was now gone and a place in the play-offs was now the best that the Irish were going to do. That, though, still looked achievable as long as Kerr's side could maintain the momentum they had built during a fast and slightly frantic first 45 minutes while adding a bit of bite over the last third of the pitch. The former they did but the latter proved out of the question for a side that simply had no teeth.

A misplaced close range header by Ian Harte early on had held out the prospect of a game overflowing with scoring opportunities. As it turned out, however, there were desperately few and the Swiss produced the best of what there was.

Six minutes from time Steven Reid went closer than any of his team-mates on the night with a driven shot as he cut in from the right. Zuberzuhler played safe and took a touch but the reality is that the ball was already flying over. Still, it was some consolation that we were given glimpses of the Irish team that we all hoped still lurked somewhere inside those green jerseys. If the players never looked good enough to win the game they at least looked as though they desperately wanted to with every one of Kerr's men chasing down balls and closing down opponents with a hunger and determination they could have done with through the middle of this ill fated campaign.

Unfortunately, despite winning a good deal of possession, the accuracy of their passing repeatedly let them down as they sought to press further forward towards the danger area.

Kobi Kuhn's men coped well at the back where Phillippe Senderos had reverted from left full on Saturday to centre-half while Ludovic Magnin took responsibility for curtailing Andy Reid's runs down Ireland's right flank and excelled in the role.

Had either of a couple of early penalty claims met with more sympathy from referee Marcus Merk it might have been a very different game but neither was anything like a clearcut thing and as it was the Irish simply settled into having the better of things without ever quite looking as though they might make it count.

In midfield there was a huge amount of industry from Kilbane, Matt Holland and John O'Shea but the invention that Kerr must have been hoping for never materialised with the result that almost every attack ran of steam.

At the other end Ireland's defence looked a very different animal from the chaotic affair that almost cost the team points in Nicosia but there were still moments when they were caught napping by their visitors.

The Irish resistance came close to crumbling late on when Magnin proved to be the chief tormentor. His low ball across the face of the goal eluded a string of players, including Frei, by inches but last year's top scorer in the French league should have put the visitors in front nine minutes from time after Magnin hit another perfectly placed ball. But a poor finish and brilliant stop by Given kept the game all square.

He, at least, could have done no more to get to this team to Germany, a fact acknowledged by the crowd at the end who broke their stony silence to give the Donegalman an ovation as he left the pitch.

REP OF IRELAND: Given, Carr, Dunne, Cunningham, Harte, Andy Reid (Steven Reid 80), O'Shea, Holland, Kilbane, Morrison (Doherty 87), Keane (Elliott 68). Subs Not Used: O'Brien, Finnan, Kavanagh, Kenny. Booked: Dunne, Andy Reid.

SWITZERLAND: Zuberbuhler, Degen, Senderos, Muller, Magnin, Vogel, Barnetta (Gygax 89), Wicky, Cabanas, Vonlanthen (Streller 53), Frei. Subs Not Used: Huggel, Spycher, Coltorti, Smiljanic, Behrami. Booked: Wicky, Cabanas.

Referee: Markus Merk (Germany).