MANAGER'S REACTION: MALACHY CLERKINhears the Ireland manager welcome a draw against "a great Czech team"

TRAP CAME, Trap saw, Trap even gave in and played to the crowd a little bit. Despite spending a goodly portion of the evening watching the Czech Republic waltz and weave with the ball, Ireland still came away from the Aviva with a 1-1 draw thanks to a slick trick, turn and finish by substitute Simon Cox five minutes from time.

A dull night was given an injection of enthusiasm when James McClean made his Ireland debut in the 78th minute, bringing forth a deluge of applause from a crowd that up to then hadn’t had much cause to cheer.

The football authorities came for the humble international friendly during the week. When they did so, this was the sort of game they had in mind. This kind of night will be a thing of the past soon enough, popped like a zit on the face of the fixture calendar.

There were long spells of the first half especially when it wasn’t hard to find the logic in the notion. It was a time of ennui and longueur, enough to make a man ponder posh words for different shades of nothing. It was a Mexican Wave practice session, the sound of no hands clapping.

For the kind of huff-and-puff Ireland will likely need in Poland, it actually wasn’t the worst exercise in the world. The Czechs had the ball for long spells and Trap’s Ireland did what Trap’s Ireland do. They made shape a virtue, got toes and ankles in the way of final passes, kept the Czechs in potshot range without ever looking in danger of ceding much beyond it.

Shay Given had a couple of low scuddy efforts to take care of but that was about the height of it.

But once a Milan Baros goal soon after the break put the Czechs ahead, Ireland were forced to shake themselves.

The goal was an atypical one from an Irish point of view – the whole of the back four drawn to the ball like bugs to a bulb and Baros left in 15 yards of space while standing beside the penalty spot.

“They scored because of a misunderstanding in our defence,” said Trapattoni afterwards. “When our defenders go to the ball, it means we leave space and obviously that’s not what we should do.”

Obviously. Thereafter, Ireland knuckled down and tried to haul the Czechs back but it was a struggle at times. Shane Long and Robbie Keane spent much of the game in a flap, wondering aloud at the level of service they were getting.

And for much of the second half, the natives were shifting in their seats wondering if Trap might be cussed enough not to send the much-ballyhooed McClean on for his debut.

When he did arrive with 12 minutes to go, the buzz in the place was for the first time in keeping with a nation that is preparing for its first international tournament in a decade. No chance we might have seen him earlier, Trap?

“No, because Shane Long was still in good condition and was still creating a little bit of trouble up front. It was important for (McClean) to play 15 or 20 minutes but it’s not easy for players to come in when we are losing and it was important that we don’t lose.

“We had a good reaction in the second half and I think we deserved to achieve the draw. We allowed them only one chance but that is all. In the second half, we had more opportunities than them. I am happy because in this moment we have a team that always believes than any result is possible.”

With time running down, the excellent-all-night Keith Andrews won a tackle on the edge of the Czech box and fed a quick ball to Cox. The West Brom striker zipped past Daniel Kolar with a nice nutmeg before slipping a cool finish under Petr Czech for a classy equaliser. It was just about what Ireland deserved in the end.

“I am very happy,” said Trapattoni. “First because this is a great Czech team. For some of the first half we couldn’t contain them in midfield because they had too much possession. Also, we made a great mistake in defending because we gave them the ball. We had the opportunity to score after three minutes but we could not achieve it. I think they were superior in that first half. But in the second half, we played better. We were more aggressive.”