Republic of Ireland were five minutes away from claiming a victory over the Netherlands in their pre-Euro 2016 friendly on Friday night when Luuk de Jong headed in an equaliser.
Shane Long gave the hosts the lead on the half-hour mark at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, and despite looking relatively comfortable throughout the match, the team did not come away with a win.
The Dutch outfit may not be gearing up for Euro 2016 due to their failure to qualify, but head coach Danny Blind is looking ahead to the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.
The 54-year-old's side started positively by putting the Irish outfit under pressure and keeping possession of the ball for large chunks of the early phases of the first half.
Martin O'Neill's men slowly got into the game, and their first opportunity came from Harry Arter around the 17th-minute mark when the midfielder unleashed a shot from 25 yards - it took a deflection, but fell into the goalkeeper's gloves.
A minute later, Stephen Quinn snatched a stray pass in the middle of the park before surging forward into the box and sending a ball into the middle, but it bypassed all of his teammates.
There was a moment of concern for Long when the striker required treatment following a challenge, but shortly after that, the Southampton forward put Ireland in front.
The ball was whipped in from the corner flag and the keeper saved, but palmed it into one of his own players, allowing Long to latch on and scramble it into the back of the net.
The goal extended a miserable run for the Netherlands, who have not kept a clean sheet in eight consecutive matches, but it was joy for O'Neill's side as they ramped up the tempo after taking the lead.
The Dutch side's only real genuine chance of the game occurred around 40 minutes in when Memphis Depay checked his run before delivering a ball with plenty of pace into the area, but it eluded his teammates and bounced out for a goal kick.
After the break, Ireland created a handful of chances as Robbie Brady's free kick rebounded towards Jonathan Walters, who headed across goal, but it was easily saved by the Netherlands keeper.
Another corner came from a free kick and caused trouble to the visitors' defence as Shane Duffy rose to get at attempt away, but his header flew over the bar.
The Netherlands struggled with the aerial threat of Ireland, but as the clock ticked down, Blind's side managed to get more time on the ball.
Jetro Willems delivered a cross towards the back post toward to find Vincent Janssen, whose low header was stopped, but goalkeeper Darren Randolph was not as comfortable in the 85th minute.
De Jong was left completely unmarked in the danger area when Willems delivered in a first-time cross, and all the substitute had to do was head the ball into the net from eight yards out.
It was a disappointing ending to the game for Ireland as De Jong's goal was the Netherlands' first shot on target.
Danielle Joynson
