Goalscorer Shane Long tussles with Miroslav Stevanovic (of Bosnia & Herzegovina. (Pic: Niall Carson/PA)

Ireland 1
Bosnia-Herzegovina 0

Shane Long ensured Ireland will head off on their Euro 2012 adventure on the back of a win with the only goal against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The West Brom striker’s 78th-minute header was enough to claim victory in Ireland’s final game on home soil before the finals.

Giovanni Trapattoni’s men might have won more comfortably in front of a crowd of 37,100 with the post, the bar and the heroics of keeper Asmir Begovic denying them.

The win extended Ireland’s unbeaten run to 13 games as they leave for their pre-tournament training camp in Montecatini, Italy.

Trapattoni had chosen the Bosnians because he knew they would be technically adept and tactically astute, and would provide his side with exactly the sort of challenge they will face next month with Croatia, Spain and Italy standing between them and their dream of reaching the quarter-finals.

For long periods, Safet Susic’s side retained the ball and passed it confidently with Miralem Pjanic and skipper Zvjezdan Misimovic running the game from central midfield and Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko keeping Richard Dunne on his toes throughout.

But as ever, the Republic were doggedly stubborn and while Dunne had to make a series of important interventions – in the process proving his fitness after a midweek fitness scare – it was not until 40 minutes had elapsed that stand-in keeper Keiren Westwood, deputising for the injured Shay Given, was called upon to make his first save.

Striker Vedad Ibisevic fired wildly over after just four minutes and then only just failed to turn home Dzeko’s ninth-minute cross in a positive start by the visitors.

However, Ireland gradually worked their way into the game and midfielder Glenn Whelan was convinced he should have been awarded a 13th-minute penalty when he burst past central defender Sanel Jahic and appeared to be felled as he rounded Begovic.

Swiss referee Nikolaj Haenni, however, waved away his appeals and as the half wore on, it was Trapattoni’s men who started to make the running.

James McClean, starting a senior international for the first time, set up Darron Gibson to drag a 25th-minute effort wide after an enterprising foray inside from the left wing, and skipper Robbie Keane sent a snapshot over the bar after turning smartly six minutes later.

But the fireworks largely came inside the final five minutes of the half, perhaps prompted by Pjanic’s swerving 30-yarder which very nearly wrong-footed Westwood.

First McClean forced Begovic into a smart save at his near post with a well-struck left-foot drive, and then the keeper had to block at the feet of Damien Duff after Keane’s clever flick had put the midfielder in on goal.

Central defender Darren O’Dea also tested Begovic with a late header, but there was nothing to chose between the sides as they went in at the break.

However, there might have been within two minutes of the restart but for the intervention of the woodwork.

Trapattoni made a double change at the break when he replaced Whelan and Duff with Keith Andrews and McGeady, and the latter almost made an instant impact.

He timed his run to perfection to meet Kevin Doyle’s knock-down and sent a right-foot volley towards goal, but with Begovic beaten, the ball came back off the post.

McGeady’s arrival had seen McClean switch to the right in line with Trapattoni’s intention to school him in international football on both flanks.

Westwood had enjoyed a relatively quiet afternoon, but he found himself in action once again with 59 minutes gone when Pjanic once again took aim from all of 35 yards, this time from a free-kick.

His confidence to shoot proved well-founded as he sent another fiercely-struck effort snaking towards the top corner, where the Sunderland keeper pulled off a fine one-handed save.

Trapattoni, who had signalled his intention to use all seven substitutions allowed in an effort to test the match-fitness of his squad, withdrew first-choice strike-pairing Keane and Doyle with 63 minutes played and sent on Long and Jon Walters in their place.

Dunne too was withdrawn from the fray eight minutes later when he was replaced by St Ledger, but it was at the other end that most of the late action came.

Walters very nearly gave the home side a 74th-minute lead when he met McGeady’s cross with a powerful header, but saw the ball crash back off the crossbar, and the former Celtic winger himself tested Begovic with a viciously-dipping shot two minutes later which almost eluded the keeper.

However, Long finally made the pressure tell with 12 minutes remaining when he rose at the far post to head yet another inch-perfect McGeady delivery home.

It could have been 2-0 within a minute when McGeady put Walters in on goal, but club-mate Begovic closed him down well to block, and then pulled off a remarkable late save to deny Long a second.

Irish medical staff refuse to rule Shane Long out of November play-offs. (Pic: PA)

Setanta Sports has confirmed that it will show the first leg of Ireland’s Euro 2012 play-off  tie against Estonia live from Tallinn at 6.30am on Saturday, 12 November.

The second leg will be shown live from Dublin by ESPN at 6:45am, 16 November.  A replay of the game will also be shown at 8pm later that day.

Meanwhile, the FAI is holding out hope that Shane Long still has a chance of featuring in next month’s crucial games against Estonia.

The initial news seemed to rule him out of both fixtures with the player’s club West Bromwich Albion expecting him to return to fitness in early December.

However, on the eve of Giovanni Trapattoni’s announcement of his preliminary squad for the games this Friday, Irish medical staff indicated that it is still too early to say how long the 24 -year-old’s recovery might take, but that his progress will be monitored over the course of the week.

A scan on the knee injured in a wild challenge by Alan Hutton in West Brom’s defeat of Aston Villa, has shown that Long’s cruciate ligaments are undamaged but, according to the club’s website there is: “severe bone bruising and a small bone chip inside the right knee”.

Long’s availability is of particular concern as Kevin Doyle is suspended for the first leg, while Robbie Keane is a doubt for both games due to injury.

Trapattoni’s most obvious remaining striking option is to pair Long’s club mate Simon Cox with Stoke City forward, Jonathan Walters.

However there also plenty of Irish strikers who have been left out of recent squads who are playing well for their clubs, including Celtic’s Anthony Stokes, Newcastle’s Leon Best and Leeds’ Andy Keogh.

Keogh will hope that his recent form for Leeds has made as much of an impression on Trapattoni as it has on Simon Grayson who says that he may look to sign the Irishman permanently from Wolves when his loan spell at Elland Road runs out in January.

Newcastle’s Best has also repeatedly staked his claim this season with three Premier League goals already this campaign, although Trapattoni has recently suggested that he believes the in-form striker needs to improve his work-rate before being considered.

“I am playing well and scoring goals, me and Shane are on the same amount in terms of Premier League goals. Goals win games and while working hard for the team helps, you can only run as hard as your body will let you,” said Best in response to the Irish manager’s remarks.

Morten Gamst Pedersen ruined Shay Given’s big night as Norway came from behind to snatch victory at the Aviva Stadium.

The Blackburn midfielder curled a superb 34th-minute free-kick past Given, who was making a record 109th appearance for his country, to cancel out Shane Long’s fifth-minute penalty.

Republic of Ireland 1 Norway 2

However, Pedersen was not finished and as Ireland pressed for a late winner, it was he who provided the cross from which striker Erik Huseklepp fired the visitors to victory four minutes from time.

Up until that point, Giovanni Trapattoni’s much-changed side had more than made a fist of a game against the kind of opponents they will have to find a way past if they are to make it to next summer’s Euro 2012 finals.

But the veteran Italian’s hopes of running the rule over some of the men he believes may have long-term futures in his squad while at the same time emerging with a positive result, were dashed at the end.

There were positives – Long proved an able deputy for injured skipper Robbie Keane, while Keith Fahey linked well with Glenn Whelan in central midfield.

But for a man who hates losing even friendly games, the late twist will have been hard to bear.

Trapattoni has made his name for being a coach who ultimately places results before entertainment, and he has made no bones about doing so during his reign in Ireland.

That approach very nearly took the Republic to the World Cup finals in South Africa and the 71-year-old hopes, despite last month’s setback when Russia left the Aviva Stadium with all three points, that it will take them the extra step in their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.

Given the opportunity to blood some of his emerging talents in tonight’s friendly, he accepted it, but only to a point, deciding that a positive result against a side ranked 13th in FIFA’s world rankings would be just as valuable.

With 15 minutes of the game gone, he could hardly have been better pleased with what he had seen.

Long’s fifth minute run on to John O’Shea’s through-ball caused the normally redoubtable Brede Hangeland all sorts of problems and prompted him to haul his man to the ground.

Icelandic referee Kristinn Jakobsson immediately pointed to the spot and with Keane absent, Long took over spot-kick duties and calmly despatched the ball low to goalkeeper Jon Knudsen’s right and into the bottom corner.

A Norway side boasting nine of the men who started last month’s qualifier victory in Cyprus, a win which maintained their 100% start, was at sixes and sevens in the opening stages, and they might have fallen further behind with 12 minutes gone.

Kevin Doyle’s pass was perfectly weighted for Liam Lawrence to drive in a low cross, and although Knudsen palmed the ball just inches out of Long’s reach it fell for Damien Duff. His left-foot drive was firm and accurate, but the keeper recovered to kick it off the line.

The Norwegians started to work their way into the game. John Arne Riise and Pedersen were finding space down the left as their side’s passing became slicker and more penetrative, the pressure mounted.

Ireland’s central midfielders, Fahey and Whelan, had enjoyed an encouraging start to the game, but they were bypassed 12 minutes before the break as Norway opened up their hosts.

Pedersen laid Hangeland’s crisp pass off to Thorstein Helstad and Stephen Kelly handled as he slid in in an attempt to regain possession.

Pedersen took charge of the resulting free-kick and curled a superb left-foot shot high to Given’s right to give Ireland’s most-capped international no chance.

Stoke striker Jon Walters was handed a first cap as a half-time replacement for Doyle as Aiden McGeady came on for Lawrence, and their arrival prompted a flurry of activity.

Substitute keeper Espen Bugge Pettersen had to tip away a rising drive from long, but at the other end, Given proved equal to the task as Huseklepp went for goal twice within seconds.

But with Walters and Long repeatedly stretching the visitors’ defence, Ireland were making much of the running.

The game opened up as time ran down with both sides looking for a winner, and it took a brave block by Whelan to keep out Riise’s 76th-minute piledriver from getting anywhere near Given.

However, the Manchester City man was beaten for the second time with four minutes remaining when Pedersen’s cross left him cruelly exposed and Huseklepp took full advantage at the far post to snatch victory.