Ireland 1 Lithuania 0
You knew it hadn’t been a thriller when one of the loudest cheers was reserved for a pitch invader who looked like he was running on ice.
But then Troy Parrott stepped off the bench and capped an electric 25-minute cameo with a sublime winner in the seventh minute of injury-time.
And it had been coming.
On a night when Ireland saw FOUR goals - correctly - ruled out for offside, it was just the tonic to keep the team on its upward curve going into the summer.
Ireland refused to bow and Parrott’s strike saw Stephen Kenny off on another of his runs down the touchline in celebration.
But up to that point, it has been a frustrating night with only the pitch invader to lighten the mood.
Just as Ireland were preparing to whip a ball into the box, the bloke burst onto the pitch and, after various spills, ran up to Caoimhin Kelleher and took a selfie.
He then went slip-sliding away as he tried unsuccessfully to slalom through the sea of stewards. To be fair, it was the most fun Kelleher had all night.
Lithuania packed no punch whatsoever. Even the odd hairy moment in the Irish defence was self inflicted.
But Ireland were toothless themselves, despite keeping the heat on until the death with Parrott in the thick of it before his stunning goal.
Sure, they had the ball in the net on four occasions - twice from Chiedozie Ogbene, Conor Hourihane and Scott Hogan - but all were correctly ruled offside.
Kenny can have no gripes on that front and while Ireland put it up to the world No 1 team Belgium on Saturday, they laboured here for long spells against the world’s 137th.
There are countless examples of nights under the lights here on Lansdowne Road where Ireland have - for whatever reason - made hard work of weak opposition.
This wasn’t terrible, but it was a slog with a happy ending as Ireland stretch their unbeaten run to eight games going into the Nations League campaign this summer..
But while John Egan almost won it with a last ditch header, Parrott brought the house down with the second last kick of the game
Kenny made six changes from Belgium with Dara O’Shea returning for the first time since fracturing his ankle against Portugal in September.
Saturday’s late goal hero Alan Browne also got a starting nod along with Ryan Manning, Hourihane, Will Keane and Nathan Collins.
Kelleher had enough time on his hands to count every spectator twice, he had that little to do in a first-half that Ireland controlled but without a cutting edge.
What started off so promisingly fizzed out by the break, but Manning was a potent weapon down the left and Callum Robinson and Ogbene always a handful.
Man-of-the-moment Ogbene had the ball in the net after nine minutes but was deemed offside at the end of a flowing move.
Even at that stage, Lithuania tried taking the sting out of the game whenever they could and Kenny was doing his nut over goalkeeper Dziugas Bartkus’ time wasting.
It was training ground exercise at times, with Ireland effortlessly moving the ball around the pitch in their attempts to unlock Lithuania.
But it wasn’t always crisp as Hourihane’s set-pieces could have been better while striker Keane’s hold up play and layoffs to those around him lacked precision.
And a noticeable hint of frustration soon crept into Ireland’s play the longer they went without scoring before half-time.
Robinson, who had scored six goals for Ireland in four games before this month’s double-header, let fly with two rising shots from distance.
And Burnley defender Collins, on his second cap and first start, found himself in the box almost as much as the attackers but was snuffed out on two occasions.
Those jitters in Ireland’s play carried into the second-half with Collins and O’Shea both guilty of sloppy passes at the back that almost let Lithuania in.
But despite their host’s carelessness, Lithuania lacked the wherewithal to take advantage - or even to work Kelleher.
It was the jolt Ireland needed as they started to attack with a touch more purpose - and the crowd responded after waking from a first-half slumber.
Hourihane saw a goal ruled out for offside in the 55th minute because Robinson and Keane were both directly blocking the goalkeeper’s line of sight.
Matt Doherty, who was always looking to generate forward momentum, then went on a solo run into the box but saw his shot saved by Bartkus.
And Robinson flicked an effort just over the crossbar soon after as Kenny brought on reinforcements in Troy Parrott and James McClean.
And they combined in the 73rd minute for Ireland’s opener!
Oh. Wait. No. Yet another offside goal - this time McClean the offender from Parrott’s ball as Ogbene tucked it home. Hogan then had another ruled out.
It was the story of Ireland’s night, until Parrott’s late, late moment of magic.
