The Republic of Ireland welcomed Greece to the Aviva Stadium for an international friendly this evening.
Giovanni Trapattoni's men were seeking redemption from their supporters, having lost their last home game 6-1 at the hands of Germany.
As it transpired, the Irish fans were made to endure more suffering, as their side went down to a Jose Holebas strike on 29 minutes.
Recap how the game panned out below, with Sports Mole's blow-by-blow text commentary.
The Aviva Stadium, which can house 51,700 supporters, is looking awfully empty tonight. Just over 20,000 tickets have been sold for this match.
Ireland starting XI: Forde, Coleman, O'Shea(c), Clark, Ward, Brady, McCarthy, Whelan, McClean, Cox, Long
Ireland substitutes: Randolph, O'Dea, Kelly, Andrews, Clifford, Meyler, Keogh, Hoolahan, Doyle
Greece starting XI: Karnezis, Stafylidis, Papadopoulos, Tziolis, Samaras(c), Mitroglou, Torosidis, Tachtsidis, Ninis, Papastathopoulos, Cholevas
Greece substitutes: Peristeridis, Maniatis, Spyropoulos, Kone, Christodoulopoulos, Vyntra, Salpingdis, Dimoutsos, Siovas, Fortounis, Athanasiadis
Glenn Whelan starts in midfield in what appears to be a 4-4-2 formation. However, the Stoke City man has urged Trapattoni to abandon the traditional system.
Whelan: "I don't think I have played against another national team which has played 4-4-2. We have been over-powered.
"We are playing three against two and we don't get the credit that we deserve, really.
"We have taken a lot of stick, but what can we do? We are told by the manager to go out and play like this.
"He's the manager, he's the boss and you do what he says because if you don't, you are not going to get picked."
Ireland have made seven changes from the side which beat the Faroe Islands 4-1 last month.
Ciaran Clark and Stephen Ward replace Darren O'Dea and Stephen Ward in defence.
Simon Cox and Shane Long come in for Robbie Keane and Jon Walters up front.
Sunderland goalkeeper Kieren Westwood pulled out earlier today and is replaced by Millwall's David Forde.
Whelan returns in place of Keith Andrews, while James McClean is in for Aiden McGeady, who has an ankle injury.
This is the first time in eight years that Greece's starting XI is without a single member of their European Championship-winning squad of 2004.
The players walk out onto the field and are greeted very tamely by the small crowd, who have voted with their feet. While tonight is just a friendly, one can't help but feel it is a big game for Trapattoni. He desperately needs a big performance to get the fans back on side.
The national anthems are so quiet that you can actually hear John O'Shea's efforts during Amhrán na bhFiann. This has been very disappointing so far - let's home the football can brighten up the occasion! It will begin in two minutes.
Greece kick off.
Penalty shout! Ward's cross from the left bounces up and strikes Konstantinos Stafylidis on the arm. The 18-year-old had both of his arms spread out and is a very lucky boy!
Ireland have another Penalty shout! Long beats Sokratis Papastathopoulos for pace down the left flank and then goes to ground on the edge of the penalty area under pressure from the Werder Bremen defender. This time the referee is right to dismiss the Irish protests.
Ireland have totally dominated the match in terms of possession so far.
Great chance for Ireland! Seamus Coleman plays a neat one-two with Long down the right and then whips in a deep cross to Cox, who awkwardly scoops his header over the bar from six yards.
McClean's fizzing cross goes just beyond Robbie Brady at the far post.
McClean fires in another pacy cross from the left. This time it deflects off Panagiotis Tachtsidis and forces a decent save out of Orestis Karnezis in the Greece goal.
Georgios Samaras is caught in the face by O'Shea's flailing arm. It looked innocuous, but the Celtic man is bleeding and needs to be patched up.
Samaras returns to the field of play.
Sotiris Ninis executes a clever turn to get away from Ward, before firing a venomous effort at goal from 25 yards. Forde palms the ball away to safety.
GOAL FOR GREECE! - Jose Holebas - Republic of Ireland 0-1 Greece.
With his back to goal, Holebas collects Samaras's first-time pass and then turns O'Shea brilliantly on the edge of the penalty area before firing into the bottom left corner from 18 yards.
Injury - Substitution for Ireland - Whelan, who appears to have picked up a hamstring problem, is replaced by Andrews.
Yellow card for Long, who went in late on Panagiotis Tachtsidis
Whelan's thigh has been strapped up by the Irish medical team.
Yellow card for Clark, but he is lucky not to be sent off! The Aston Villa defender's tackle on Holebas was high and reckless.
Corner to Ireland on the right.
Goalkeeper Karnezis does well to punch the ball clear.
Ireland go close! Brady cuts inside onto his left foot and fires in a rasping strike which Karnezis does well to tip behind. Corner.
Penalty shout! Brady's corner falls to McClean in the six-yard box. The Sunderland winger gets a shot away, which appears to strike Kyriakos Papadopoulos on the hand. Ireland can certainly count themselves unlucky so far.
Half time: Republic of Ireland 0-1 Greece
Ireland were the better side until they fell behind. Since then they have looked very nervy.
Both sides registered four shots in the first half. Greece have hit the target twice, while Ireland's forwards have worked the goalkeeper just once.
Ireland have had three of the game's four corners and 56% of ball possession.
Both sides make multiple substitutions ahead of the second half. Wes Hoolahan and Kevin Doyle replace Brady and Long for Ireland. Konstantinos Fortounis, Dimitris Salpingidis and Stefanos Athanasiadis come on for Greece - Samaras, Holebas and Kostas Mitroglou make way.
Ireland kick off.
Ireland win an early corner.
McClean takes it short. The cross eventually comes in, but it skids out of play.
Chance for Ireland! James McCarthy's long-range shot is parried by Karnezis. Doyle gets to the rebound, but his effort is cleared off the line.
Cox brings down Ninis. Free kick to Greece in a central position, 25 yards from goal.
Tachtsidis takes the free kick and his effort floats comfortably over the crossbar.
McClean goes for goal from 30 yards, but misses by a long way.
Ireland appear to have switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Cox, Hoolahan and McClean playing just behind Doyle.
Substitution: That formation may not last much longer. Cox signals to the bench to say that he has picked up a knock. The Nottingham Forest forward is replaced by Andy Keogh.
Greece make another double substitution - Giannis Maniatis and Loukas Vintra replace VVassilas Torosidis and Sotirios Ninis.
It looks as though Keogh has slotted in on the left and Ireland are persevering with their 4-2-3-1 system.
Chance for Ireland! Keogh's right-foot effort is blocked. The ball then falls to Ward, who volleys across the face of goal and Doyle just fails to get a touch.
Substitution for Ireland: David Meyler replaces McCarthy.
Corner to Ireland.
Chance for Ireland! Hoolahan's left-footed inswinger finds O'Shea unmarked at the far post. The Sunderland defender nods back across goal, but Alexandros Tziolis heads behind.
Hoolahan, whose set pieces have been of a high standard so far, whips in another decent delivery and the ball is headed behind for a third corner is quick succession.
I spoke too soon! This time, Hoolahan's cross is poor and Greece clear.
Ireland are having all of the play right now, but Greece have everyone behind the ball and the hosts can't find a way through.
Substitution for Greece: Nikolaos Spyropoulos replaces Stafylidis
Yellow card for Fortounis for pulling back Coleman. Free kick to Ireland on the right flank.
McClean's delivery is too close to the goalkeeper, who catches the ball easily.
Spyropoulos plays the ball off Coleman and Greece earn a rare corner.
Chance for Greece! Fortounis's cross finds the head of Athanasiadis, whose header skims the crossbar.
The fourth official indicates that a minimum of four minutes additional time will be played. Despite that positive news, the atmosphere at the Aviva Stadium remains very flat.
Full Time: Republic of Ireland 0-1 Greece
The final whistle is greeted by a mild chorus of boos. That was a very poor game of football.
Ireland dominated the match in terms of possession (58%) and earned 12 corners, compared to Greece's three. However, Trapattoni's men managed to test the Greek goalkeeper just three times.
That concludes Sports Mole's live coverage for tonight. Goodbye.
Written by
Robert Summerscales
Robert Summerscales
