Arter's debut for Ireland lifts dull international friendly

We had to wait 62 minutes before Harry Arter got the signal that all Bournemouth fans wanted to see from Martin O'Neil to enter the fray for Republic of Ireland v England at the Aviva Stadium. Glenn Whelan of Stoke City was withdrawn to make space for Harry in what looked very much like a summer training exercise rather than a full blooded international. All I wanted to see was if Harry would get a chance to swing that majestic left foot on goal.

Ireland are perhaps not the team with an abundance of creative ability and while they posed some problems for England it was a bit of a dull affair in the Dublin sunshine, as end of season friendlies often are. Arter's job was to try and find Shane Long and Jonathan Walters. Harry certainly caught the eye on 73 minutes when he plundered the ball off of Ross Barkley and let fly with his left foot. The shot was only a couple of meters wide. Harry then upset Irish fans by misplacing a pass in the box that could have set Walters in.

Arter get's his first international under his belt.

Still Harry was making things happen as he had all season for AFCB. Trying to get the ball up and near England's box was the difficulty though. Possession had swung in England's favour after numerous second half substitutions. Arter's job had turned into more of a marshaling job in front of the back four. As a whole though, the contest had been fairly even with little work for either keeper.

If O'Neil wants to add some excitement to his team he should start to pick Harry Arter more often as the Irish only managed eight attempts at goal in the 90 minutes, and one of those shots was one of Harry's when Ireland had started to do more defending. Ireland were solid enough against England and they'll need that when they take on Scotland next weekend. Whether Arter has done enough to get a start for that game is perhaps doubtful with a few of Ireland's players coming back to full fitness, but he did not look out of place. The game ended 0-0 and I guess you could have predicted that I suspect after the first 10 minutes of this game.