It was a a disappointing beginning to Heimir Hallgrímsson's reign as Republic of Ireland manager as England were able to win comfortably 2-0 to begin their Nations League campaign.
Ireland didn't do much to disrupt the Euros runners-up as England didn't need to get out of second gear at the Aviva Stadium.
With many fans hoping that Heimir Hallgrímsson's appointment would be a sign of change in this Irish time it was sadly more of the same on the pitch as Ireland were outmatched in nearly every facet of the match.
The English media came to Dublin curious of how Lee Carsley was going to set up his England side but a win was very much expected and a win is what they got. Coming out of the match they are overall message was that England put on a good display as there were still some glaring negatives in this Ireland team, especially in defending the counter attack.
That was what Matt Gault of BBC NI pointed out as well as pointing out the naivety which have been part of this Ireland side for a long time now.
Against vastly superior opposition, the laid bare the issues which have kept this team back: missed chances, disjointed patterns of play an alarming vulnerability when defending counter-attacks.
It wasn't much better reading in the Observer as David Hynter felt that England's 2-0 first half lead deflated the crowd which has been dealt disappointment after disappointment for a number of years.
The atmosphere was notably subdued upon the second-half restart. It had been difficult to locate any pre-match optimism among the Ireland fanbase and it was as if the realisation had set in that they could be in for a long second period. Irish football is at an extremely low ebb; everybody feels beaten down by the years of disappointment.
Mike McGrath of the Telegraph also commented on the Irish fans, in particular their jeering of Jack Grealish as McGrath felt Grealish was in the right to have such a joyous celebration against the nation where he made his name with at underage level.
Who could blame Grealish for his joyous celebration? There must have been a sense of relief for getting his season up and running, almost as much as being a riposte to home fans jeering his every touch on the ball.
However there were some positives to take from the performance, with Jonathan Norcroft of The Times feeling that Hallgrímsson has the tools to build a tough team to play against.
They did not collapse, despite a first half that was such a mismatch that midway through it, they’d had only 14 per cent of the ball. For their new manager, Heimir Hallgrimsson, that was the comfort, and he can build on the defiance expressed by Jayson Molumby’s bone-jangling tackles, Nathan Collins’s defending and the outstanding Chiedozie Ogbene’s willingness to keep driving at his man.
Saturday's result signified that there's still a lot of work to do for Hallgrímsson but there's enough there to build something.
