England defied by Republic of Ireland's David Forde in Wembley draw
Daniel Taylor at Wembley
Frank Lampard, centre, scores his sixth goal in six internationals to bring England level against the Republic of Ireland. Photograph: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian
At least we know now that England can play the Republic of Irelandwithout the alternative soundtrack that used to make the national anthems feel like back-to-back ordeals. The only abuse here occurred at the end when a few supporters took umbrage with the fact Roy Hodgson's team had not been able to see off moderate opponents. Even then, it was fairly half-hearted, in keeping with England's performance on a night that told us very little we did not already know.
Ireland were obdurate opponents but that does not fully explain the lack of quality that held back England once Frank Lampard had scored the 29th goal of his international career, 10 minutes after Shane Long's expertly taken header had given Giovanni Trapattoni's side an early lead.
England really ought to have taken control at that stage. Instead, the game meandered along rather shapelessly, not helped by a raft of substitutions and ending with a half-hearted attempt at the Mexican wave and some of the fans behind one goal amusing themselves by batting around a beach ball.
Gary Lineker was probably going too far when he said England's 4-4-2 system was a "step back into the dark ages". Equally, Hodgson was pushing it when he likened the way England had played to Borussia Dortmund, and the injury to Daniel Sturridge made it a bad night overall, leaving the manager with only 15 outfield players for Sunday's friendly against Brazil if Danny Welbeck's knee injury means he also has to pull out.
The only real positive, despite Hodgson's prolonged attempts to argue it had been an impressive performance, came right at the start. True, a few birdbrains insisted on attaching the superfluous "No surrender" to England's national anthem. Not enough, however, to be particularly voluble. The vast majority did as asked and anyone who suspected the Irish anthem might have been tarnished would have been pleasantly surprised, too. A small thing, perhaps, but it did feel like a new beginning as far as these teams are concerned.
Unfortunately for Hodgson, this was same old England. Lampard combined nicely with Michael Carrick but it was a performance that generally lacked tempo and direction. Wayne Rooney, starting his first match for over a month, improved after a peripheral first half, but without great effect. Theo Walcott offered flashes of penetration but also drifted out of the game on other occasions.
Sturridge's night was ended after damaging his ankle in a first-half challenge with Glenn Whelan and we are still waiting for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to have anything approaching a stand-out game in England's colours.
Ireland, to put it into context, have only two players from clubs that finished in the top half of the Premier League last season. Fourteen play for second-tier clubs. The starting line-up included a goalkeeper and a centre-half from Millwall, who have just finished fifth from bottom of the Championship, and the talisman, Robbie Keane, earns his living these days in Major League Soccer. This was a side that England should be picking off.
For long spells, particularly the final 15 minutes or so, England had the better of it. But it was a close-run thing at times and Ireland will have their own regrets considering the soft way they allowed Hodgson's men to draw level.
They had taken the lead after 13 minutes when Seamus Coleman, possibly the best player on the pitch, whipped over a cross with the kind of pace and trajectory that invited Long to attack the ball. A sudden burst of acceleration gave Long the extra leverage on his jump, evading both Glen Johnson and Gary Cahill in the process, and the manner in which he beat Joe Hart, applying just the right amount of weight and direction to his header, was impressive in the extreme.
Lampard's goal was a wretched one for Ireland to concede and, in particular, Sean St Ledger in the centre of their defence. Sturridge's left-wing cross was asking for a routine clearance but St Ledger swung at the ball and what little connection he did make succeeded only in turning it against Whelan from virtually point-blank range. The ricochet fell into Lampard's path and suddenly David Forde in the Ireland goal was hopelessly exposed.
Lampard's finishing is too accomplished for him to pass up those kind of chances.
Ashley Cole, afforded a great ovation when Hodgson presented him with his golden cap before kick-off, almost marked the occasion by giving England the lead three minutes into the second half. Cole has never scored for his country in 102 caps but might well have done so but for the combined efforts of Coleman and St Ledger as Walcott turned Rooney's pass across the six-yard area.
Oxlade-Chamberlain had an even better chance, after 83 minutes, but did not show enough conviction and soon afterwards signalled that he had a calf problem. Then Lampard played in Walcott and Forde saved Ireland again.
Yet this was no onslaught. By that stage, large sections of the crowd were already streaming away, having seen enough.
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