Republic of Ireland 1-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina: McGeady is star of Irish win but Fahey out of Euros

SHANE Long gave the Republic of Ireland a morale-boosting victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina in their last home game before the European Championship finals but midfielder Keith Fahey was ruled out of the tournament through injury.

Fahey has been struggling with a groin problem since he joined the squad and he pulled up in the warm-up of the friendly in Dublin.

After scans, coach Giovanni Trapattoni decided to replace Fahey in his Euro 2012 squad with Paul Green, who is without a club since being released by Derby this month.

Long headed a late winner at the Aviva and promising youngster James McClean pushed his claims for a place in the starting line-up. Long scored the winner in the 78th minute after being picked out by former Celtic winger Aiden McGeady and the home side nearly doubled the lead with a succession of shots by Jon Walters in the closing minutes.

“I think we deserved to win because the possession [we had in] the first and also the second half,” Trapattoni said.

Bosnia, who missed out on qualification for Euro 2012 following a play-off defeat by Portugal, failed to capitalise on a string of chances against a weakened Irish defence missing defender John O’Shea and veteran goalkeeper Shay Given.

Ireland, who qualified for their first major tournament in a decade by beating Estonia, produced a fine attacking display that belied their reputation as a very defensive team.

They face world and European champions Spain next month in a tough Group C in Ukraine and Poland that also includes Italy and Croatia. They play Hungary on 4 June in their final friendly before the tournament.

McGeady’s man-of-the-match performance and an excellent display by Sunderland’s McClean on his first start for Ireland may give Trapattoni a selection dilemma on the flanks.