Republic players gave Aviva crowd 'a lot to shout about' - Stephen Kenny upbeat after stirring Serbia draw
- Published
The Irish fans roared the players on as they pressed for a late winner against Serbia
Republic of Ireland boss Stephen Kenny says his players gave the Aviva Stadium crowd "a lot to shout about" after they snatched a late World Cup qualifying draw with Serbia.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's header put the visitors ahead only for Nikola Milenkovic's 86th-minute own goal to earn the Irish a deserved point.
"There were a lot of individual performances out there that were terrific," Kenny told RTE.
"I think that was interesting."
While the Republic's run of competitive games without a win under Kenny extended to 12, there were plenty of positives for the raucous 25,000 home fans to take following an energetic Irish performance.
Teenage goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu further enhanced his burgeoning reputation with 10 saves to keep the hosts in the game, while Norwich defender Andrew Omobamidele - also 19 - impressed on his home debut with an accomplished performance that belied his age.
Omobamidele almost capped his first Republic start - he replaced the injured Dara O'Shea against Portugal last week - with a superb goal but saw his rasping drive from distance tipped around the post by Serbia goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic.
"He was really just composure personified," Kenny said of the young defender.
"He's so quick and has those physical attributes, but it's only a start for him and he has to build on that now.
"He hasn't played too many league games for Norwich, so he's still young, himself and Bazunu - they were both excellent."
Kenny described Omobamidele as "composure personified" in what was the 19-year-old's first international start
Kenny's line-up also included Omobamidele's 20-year-old Norwich team-mate Adam Idah in attack and, alongside Bazunu, all three have ably demonstrated their credentials at international level over the last three games.
However, Kenny played down a suggestion that his faith in youth has been repaid, instead insisting that bringing through the next generation is a process that is far from complete before praising some of the more experienced members of his squad.
"The experienced players are amazing - Matt Doherty, this was his third game in six days yet he was on the end line crossing in the 80th minute," said the Dubliner.
"He just dug in, he was absolutely out on his feet, and Shane Duffy and John Egan too, they were tremendous. They're great professionals and the young players can learn from them."
While Saturday's uninspiring draw against Azerbaijan did little to ease pressure on Kenny, he was quick to point out that his side have lost only one of their last six games.
"What we need to do is turn the draws into wins because we're drawing too many games.
"We need to score more goals but we're working on that, but listen, there have been some good performances all week.
"We got a few breaks today, Bazunu was outstanding today to keep us in it, but we dug in to get a point.
"We missed a lot of chances against Azerbaijan so it was great to finish tonight on a high, having been one down against what I thought were a really good team in Serbia, I thought they were excellent."
The Birthday Cake Game: It's almost impossible not to play along...
Do you have bizarre dreams? Scarlett investigates if they really have any meaning
