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Ireland supporter Shay Fitzgibbon, (9) from Castlegregory in Kerry, before the international friendly match between Ireland and North Macedonia at the Aviva Stadium. Photo: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Ireland's Troy Parrott is tackled by Sebastijan Herera, left, and Darko Velkovski of North Macedonia. Photo: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Ireland's Jason Knight in action against North Macedonia's Enis Bardhi during the international friendly match between at the Aviva Stadium. Photo: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Ireland's John Egan arrives before the international friendly match with North Macedonia at Aviva Stadium. Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Ireland supporter Shay Fitzgibbon, (9) from Castlegregory in Kerry, before the international friendly match between Ireland and North Macedonia at the Aviva Stadium. Photo: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Ireland's Troy Parrott is tackled by Sebastijan Herera, left, and Darko Velkovski of North Macedonia. Photo: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

thumbnail: Ireland's Troy Parrott is tackled by Sebastijan Herera, left, and Darko Velkovski of North Macedonia. Photo: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

thumbnail: Ireland's Jason Knight in action against North Macedonia's Enis Bardhi during the international friendly match between at the Aviva Stadium. Photo: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

thumbnail: Ireland supporter Shay Fitzgibbon, (9) from Castlegregory in Kerry, before the international friendly match between Ireland and North Macedonia at the Aviva Stadium. Photo: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Heimir Hallgrimsson’s Ireland team dust themselves down for a friendly against North Macedonia at the Aviva Stadium – a game neither country wanted after seeing their 2026 World Cup hopes dashed by Czechia and Denmark respectively last Thursday.

The Boys in Green will seek another positive performance at Lansdowne Road, with some new faces primed to make their senior debuts.

You can follow all the action here.

Scoreless at the break in Lansdowne Road!

Nothing to separate the teams at the interval, although Ireland have had the greater scoring opportunities. Troy Parrott had the ball in the back of the net twice but both were ruled for offside. North Macedonia's Enis Bardhi forced Caoimhin Kelleher into one save from a set-piece.

NO GOAL! Ireland have the ball in the back of the net but the offside flag has gone up. Troy Parrott's chip over Stole Dimitrievski is ruled out. He just went too early before Finn Azaz could play the pass.

CHANCE! The ball sits up and Parrott manages to shrug Darko Velkovski off the ball. That effectively leaves him one-on-one with Dimitrevski but he fires horribly wide! That was poor by his lofty standards.

BETTER! Ireland go direct and fast for a change as Jason Knight picks out a wonderful pass for Troy Parrott to chase. The AZ Alkmaar marksman turns out on his left boot and pulls the trigger but it sails well wide - he was leaning back a bit when taking the shot!

WIDE! The man who plays his club football with Southampton FC really ought to have at least tested the North Macedonian shot-stopper there. Azaz went for the near post but it travelled a couple of feet over the bar.

Free-kick in a promising position for Ireland as Finn Azaz goes to ground under contact from Tihomir Kostadinov. A couple of inches more and it could have been a penalty!

Finn Azaz and Troy Parrott initiate the attack before the ball goes wide to Jason Knight. The cross is a decent one, but Parrott can't generate the power to really test Stole Dimitrievski.

SAVE! Enis Bardhi whips the free-kick around the wall. It takes a minor deflection and Caoimhin Kelleher has to tip it around his near post.

Nathan Collins clears a cross from the right but North Macedonia recycle the ball to the left where Sebastian Herera wins a free close to the box after Ogbene's clumsy challenge.

A long, diagonal ball picks out Seamus Coleman on the right. The Everton man heads it down to Ogbene whose goal-bound shot deflects out for a corner off Imran Fetaj.

OVER THE BAR! The subsequent corner worked out to Dara O'Shea on the edge of the box - he lifts it in and finds John Egan who can't keep his header down at the back post.

Dan McDonnell with a keen eye before kick-off:

It wasn't visible on TV but Seamus Coleman had his three kids with him as mascots for the national anthems.

He gave him a little hug as they headed off after. I think they had 'dad' on back of their jerseys!

Ireland tip-off to start the first-half!

The referee for this evening is Iwan Arwel Griffith who forms a Welsh trio of match officials with his assistant referees Johnathon Bryant and Harry Hendricks.

Thankfully, it’s been a nice evening in the capital with a gentle westerly breeze and temperatures staying at around 11 degrees in Lansdowne Road.

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