Like stuntmen who had done their work and now had to make way for the stars, the players who accompanied Steve Staunton to New Jersey and Boston over the past week and a half headed for home last night.

Only a handful can look forward with any real confidence to being on the plane for the friendly against Denmark in August and fewer still will be in Bratislava and Prague a month later for two crucial Euro 2008 qualifiers. But three or four will be considered more realistic prospects than was the case 10 days ago and that, the Irish management team insists, has made this somewhat strange excursion to the United States all worthwhile.

"I think it's been very good," said team coach Kevin MacDonald who stood in for Staunton as Saturday's press conference as the manager made a hurried departure for England where he will this week be working towards his Uefa A (coaching) licence.

"A lot of the squad played and no one who played has done themselves any harm. One or two have made bigger progress than others, one or two of the younger players have come on and pleasantly surprised us with how they've done.

"Kevin Doyle was outstanding and you'd like to think that one or two have now progressed to the point where they can stand up and be counted as big players."

Among those who will feel they have advanced their cause over the course of the trip is Reading striker Shane Long, whose goal in Foxboro on Saturday briefly gave Ireland the lead over Bolivia and was ultimately enough to earn Staunton's men a 1-1 draw.

"It's a dream come true to score my first goal for my country," said the 19-year-old after his his fourth appearance at this level. "But nothing was going to stop me from scoring today.

"I had it in my mind before the game and when the first chance in the one-on-one with the 'keeper did not go in, that pushed me that bit further to get that goal.

"When Alan (O'Brien) put it on my head, I couldn't really miss. I know he can put in a good cross so it was up to me to get myself on the end of it. The 'keeper parried it a little bit but there was enough power on it."

Long faces stiff competition in the race to be considered the primary source of cover for Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle, for Anthony Stokes and Andy Keogh have both looked like players who are both moving in the right direction over the past week or so while Daryl Murphy has been one of the trip's real success stories.

"Daryl has done very well," said MacDonald, "he played well in the back-end of the season to be fair.

"He played well for Sunderland whenever he played, not just the back-end but obviously when they got promotion it raised his profile a little bit and his performance in these two games will have raised it a little bit higher again."

Nicky Colgan, meanwhile, made his ninth senior international appearance on Saturday, three years after he last kept goal for Ireland, against Nigeria in London.

Afterwards, he expressed pride at having been involved again and the hope that his contribution, "over the week, rather than just in the games," would be enough to keep him in the reckoning for the autumn.

He could lose his place then to Birmingham City's Colin Doyle who got his chance to impress last Wednesday night, but Colgan remained extremely positive about the trip.

"Bringing in the young lads and letting them stake their claim, I think it's essential," he said. "I think there were 11 new caps against Ecuador the other day, that stands the country in good stead for the future. We've had loads of friendlies before where I think the manager has made maybe one or two changes and that really doesn't give people the opportunity to come through.

"You can see on this trip that everybody's been given an opportunity and everybody who has played has done really well."