REP OF IRELAND 2, POLAND 3

IRELAND boss Giovanni Trapattoni insisted he was still a happy man despite tasting defeat for the first time in the job.

Ireland went down 3-2 to Poland at Croke Park as a late fightback gave them hope of extending the manager's unbeaten run to seven matches.

Trapattoni, who handed Hull striker Caleb Folan his first international start and gave debuts to substitutes Keith Andrews and Noel Hunt, the younger brother of midfielder Stephen, said: "Normally after a defeat, I am sad and not happy, but this evening, I am not sad because I saw from some players that we can believe in the future.

"Yesterday, I said this team (Poland) are strong and have played together for a long time.

"But we had some great chances with Damien Duff and we kept believing we could score and for me, that's positive.

"I said to the players in the dressing room afterwards that it is better to lose a friendly that a World Cup qualifier.

"We can start 2009 with great belief. We have a good direction."

Glorious

Direction was something which deserted Duff in particular as his side was handed a lesson in finishing by Poland, who surged into a 2-0 lead within two minutes of the restart.

Captain Mariusz Lewandowski headed the visitors in front with just three minutes gone, and when substitute Roger Guerreiro marked his half-time arrival with a superb left-foot strike barely a minute later, the game looked to be over.

The fact Duff had earlier passed up three glorious opportunities will have weighed on his mind, but Trapattoni's men would have been even further behind had Robert Lewandowski, another half-time newcomer, not fired wide from close-range just before the hour-mark.

But the Italian made five second-half changes, handing Keith Andrews and Noel Hunt, the younger brother of Stephen, senior international debuts, and his side rallied in a spirited conclusion.

After Alex Bruce had headed over and Shane Long had seen a looping effort cleared off the line, Stephen Hunt scored his first goal for his country from the penalty-spot two minutes from time following Tomasz Jodlowiec's trip on Long.

Thrilling

Robert Lewandowski, however, made it 3-1 within seconds, and although Andrews blasted home a second for his side in injury time, the Poles held on.

The late flurry provided a thrilling conclusion to the evening and an eventful few days for Ireland defender Richard Dunne in particular.

Dunne was allowed to fly back to Manchester last night to be with his pregnant wife, but returned this afternoon and played the full 90 minutes.

Trapattoni said: "We let him go - but I made him promise me that he would come back."

The game pitched the 69-year-old into direct competition with a similarly renowned coach in Leo Beenhakker, who was delighted with both the performance and the enthusiasm with which it was greeted by thousands of Poles among a crowd of 50,066.

He said: "We had fantastic support tonight and I am delighted we won for all our fans who came here.

"It was a very useful exercise, although I was not terribly impressed that we conceded two goals in the closing stages.

"But we played well overall and I am happy with the outcome."