Paul Fennessy

Caoimhín Kelleher: Made one excellent save late in the first half and didn’t need many spectacular moments after that. Could do little for the first goal and looked unsighted for the second. 7

Dara O’Shea: Didn’t do too much wrong defensively and almost scored with a powerful strike in the 79th minute that needed a strong save from Florian Wiegele. 6

Liam Scales: Made a couple of important blocks and interceptions before being replaced by Liam Kitching in the 63rd minute. 7

John Egan: Marshalled the backline reasonably well but couldn’t prevent the visitors’ second-half onslaught, earning them a hard-fought point. 6

James Abankwah: Put in a couple of good tackles and defended well on his seventh cap. Not a natural fit at wing-back, so didn’t have a big influence from an attacking perspective. 6

Conor Coventry: Did okay on just his second competitive start for Ireland, working hard and making a couple of good interceptions, suggesting he could be a viable alternative to Josh Cullen in the sitting midfield role. 6

Finn Azaz: Was occasionally shrugged off the ball too easily, showing why he isn’t often picked as a deep-lying midfielder, but had a couple of decent moments, including an excellent cross-field pass in the build-up to the Ireland penalty. 6

Ryan Manning: Had a big hand in the second goal, producing a dangerous cross before winning the penalty. Had a fairly quiet evening otherwise and was booked late on for an ill-timed challenge. 6

Jack Moylan: Looked lively and threatening in the first half, but faded after the break before being replaced by Tom Cannon in the dying stages. 6

Troy Parrott: Scored a superb individual goal to open the scoring and made no mistake with the penalty to double Ireland’s advantage. He played with great confidence, as shown by nine goals in his last six competitive international appearances. 8

Adam Idah: Linked up nicely with his fellow attackers and worked hard off the ball before being replaced by Jayson Molumby in the second half. 6

Substitutes: Austria grew stronger as the game developed, and the Irish substitutes didn’t help. Both Liam Kitching and Jayson Molumby will feel they should have done better for the goal, with the former conceding possession cheaply and the latter failing to clear his lines. Jake O’Brien, Chiedozie Ogbene and Tom Cannon struggled to have much of an influence with limited time on the pitch. 5