1ST AID TO THE RESCUE O’brien’s debut goal gives O’neill and Irish camp a much

ONE swallow doesn’t make a summer and all that but there was a lot to like about Aiden O’brien’s swashbuckling performance on his debut.

Indeed, it would have been the stuff of dreams for the Millwall man only for Mateusz Klich to snatch an equaliser (inset) three minutes from time to snuff out Martin O’neill’s hopes of ending a trying fortnight on a high.

The Ireland manager regularly bemoans the lack of a quality striker at this level ever since record-scorer Robbie Keane retired from international football two years ago.

In his eyes, unearthing someone with a nose for goal would help bridge the gap between getting over the line in the games that matter and being nearly men left with time to ‘brood’.

As admirable as Jon Walters’ efforts have been, Ireland cannot rely on the 34-year-old for goals. Shane Long’s confidence still appears shot while Sean Maguire and Scott Hogan’s fledgling international careers have not got off the ground because of injury.

O’brien still has a long way to go, of course, but the 24-year-old – a former Irish U21 international – didn’t put a foot wrong here and his headed goal early in the second-half was sweetly executed.

The travelling fans serenaded him with chants of ‘Aido, Aido’ when whipped off late on – chants once reserved for Aiden Mcgeady, a forgotten man these days.

O’brien harried and harassed defenders when closing down space and grafted ever so hard – all qualities O’neill likes in his front men. He may lack the physical presence of an

‘O’neill striker’ but, hey, he knew where the goal was here.

The performance will have catapulted him into mix for next month’s Nations League double-header.

This makeshift Ireland side – without the likes of Walters, Long, Hogan, Maguire, Seamus Coleman, James Mcclean, Robbie Brady and James Mccarthy – played well and finished out a difficult fortnight on something of a high for O’neill and his staff.

He made six changes from the defeat in Cardiff and dished out a debut to O’brien and first starts for his Millwall clubmate Shaun Williams and Sheffield United’s Enda Stevens. With an average age of 28, they are not quite a new generation.

Still, all three acquitted themselves particularly well in a sedate opening half in which neither side applied a great deal of pressure. But all things considered, Ireland played some decent football.

Often when O’neill’s team try to play passing football in a meaningful game, they are carved open and that was evident after just six minutes of that horror show in Wales last week.

But here, Ireland passed the ball nicely – even if it was side to side and backwards more often that not. Williams, in particular, did the basics well and kept things ticking over in the middle of the part.

O’brien and Callum Robinson – who made his debut just last week – were a novel pairing in attack and while few clear cut chances fell their way, their movement kept the Polish defence honest.