Daryl Murphy started and David McGoldrick came on as a sub as the Republic of Ireland lost their final pre-European Championships friendly 2-1 to Belarus at Turner’s Cross, Cork this evening. Manager Martin O’Neill will name his final 23-man squad for the tournament this evening prior to the 11pm deadline.

Murphy, who was winning his 21st full cap, played the first 67 minutes, while McGoldrick, making his fourth Ireland appearance, came on with 12 minutes remaining. Both continue to look for their first international goal.

Mikhail Hardzeichuk and Maksim Valadzko gave the Belarusians a two-goal lead before Stephen Ward pulled one back for Ireland.

Photo: Action Images

BrettenhamBlue added 22:03 - May 31 Ward had a good one.
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BrettenhamBlue added 22:06 - May 31 Murphy- probably the worst game I've ever seen him play in. Completely owned by the Belarus CB and missed a header from point blank range. Lost every 50/50 ball.
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cartman1972 added 22:10 - May 31 Murphy shouldn't go he has been awful lately.
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GiveusaWave added 22:30 - May 31 Woeful performance...Irish fans were really angry with him in Twitter. Only listened on the radio but he was only ever mentioned when they said things like "murphy has lost the ball again"
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BrettenhamBlue added 22:37 - May 31 Murphy can't control it with his feet anymore.
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ArnieM added 22:37 - May 31 Sadly, he's simply not good enough. He wouldn't get to within a country mile of the England squad that's for sure. I hope we are looking for an eventual replacement for him at Club level. He can't go on forever as much as I like his endeavour, power and honesty.
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AbujaBlue added 22:38 - May 31 McGoldrick misses out. Feel sorry for him.
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Surco72 added 23:42 - May 31 £5 million offered for Murphy after a one season wonder and we didn't accept , poor decision by club as said at time . To be fair both very average for international level but Irish so MM will love them
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yorksblue added 07:01 - Jun 1 Alan Lee would still be a better option than Murphy. A contender for Centre Forward miss of season with that header. Murphy's form seems to be going backwards on a rapid scale.
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judespiveyg added 08:32 - Jun 1 People are really attacking murphy, I hope people remember he's been injured for 2 or 3 months
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corfu72 added 08:50 - Jun 1 The season before last Murphy was a Hero at Ipswich,last season was poor even to his standards and he admits that.What is the point of Knocking him,He is still a good striker and target man and brings other players into the game when he holds up the ball,every player at some stage has a poor season.!!
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commuterblue added 10:23 - Jun 1 At the time I thought that 7m for McGoldrick and 4m for Murphy were both good deals for the club. But I would never criticise the club for keeping hold of them. The timing of both departures would have been very detrimental to each respective season. Also it would have been seen as a lack of ambition by the club. Perhaps we should have had replacements lined up ready to come, but that's easier said than done for players of that quality.

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