Irish war ends in Dublin stalemate

– The Republic of Ireland were held to a bruising 0-0 draw by Northern Ireland amid a toxic atmosphere as the bitter rivals clashed for the first time in seven years on Thursday.

The Republic won 5-0 in the last showdown with their neighbours from north of the border in 2011.

But goals were much harder to come by this time as the friendly ended in a fractious stalemate in Dublin.

The Republic have won only once in their past 10 games and were booed off at full-time, while Northern Ireland have just two victories in 12 matches.

“I am proud of the team. We were terrific. We had good chances and should have won the game,” Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill said.

In principle, the derby was simply a warm-up for the Republic’s Nations League trip to Denmark on Monday and Northern Ireland’s match against Austria in the same competition tomorrow. –

Dublin