Trapattoni suffers first defeat

Leo Beenhakker's Poland side looked to be heading for a comfortable victory at Croke Park when substitute Roger Guerreiro added a 47th-minute second goal to skipper Mariusz Lewandowski's early opener.

But substitute Stephen Hunt reduced the deficit with an 88th-minute penalty, and after Robert Lewandowski had restored his side's two-goal advantage, fellow newcomer Keith Andrews marked his senior international debut with an injury-time strike.

Hull striker Caleb Folan, deputising for injured skipper Robbie Keane, was a real handful for the Polish defence, and linked nicely with both partner Kevin Doyle and wide-men Damien Duff and Andy Keogh.

However, it was Mariusz Lewandowski who proved the most potent force in either penalty area during the opening 45 minutes.

His third-minute glancing header from Lukasz Gargula's free-kick put his side ahead with Folan unable to prevent him opening the scoring, and the towering midfielder was left criminally unmarked as he met Jacek Krzynowek's 27th-minute corner but this time, could not hit the target.

For all Poland's impressive play going forward, they too looked vulnerable at the back, and they were grateful that Duff had left his shooting boots back on Tyneside, with the Newcastle man missing a series of guilt-edged chances.

Poland doubled their lead when Brazilian-born midfielder Guerreiro, who had only been only the pitch a little more than a minute, raced on to Gargula's flick and dispatched a left-foot shot emphatically past Shay Given and into the bottom corner.

Alex Bruce headed just over for Ireland and Shane Long saw a looping effort cleared off the line by defender Dariusz Dudka, but their reward finally came with two minutes remaining when Hunt converted from the spot after Long had been felled by Tomasz Jodlowiec.

Lewandowski's 89th-minute strike killed the Irish celebrations in their infancy, but Andrews left his mark on an astonishing end to the game in injury-time.