Long strike sinks Bosnia

Substitute Shane Long's header was enough for Ireland to overcome a strong Bosnian outfit in their friendly in Dublin.

It was another substitute in Aiden McGeady who set up the West Brom striker as he lifted a delightful cross into the far post for Long to head into the net.
It was a bit of a stop-start encounter at the Aviva Stadium, with neither side really troubling the goalkeepers as Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko headed the Bosnian attack but looked far from his clinical self.
Ireland were certainly worthy of their win in what was a shuffled side by Giovanni Trapattoni to compensate for a number of injuries.
McGeady could have opened the scoring himself just moments after entering the fray as a second-half substitute but saw his volley from Kevin Doyle's flick-on crash back off the post.
Another chance went begging when Jon Walters came off the bench but smashed the bar with a far-post header.
Trapattoni wanted to play the Bosnians because he knew that their technical ability was similar to that of Croatia who they will face in next month's competition as well as Spain and Italy standing in their way.
For long periods of the game Safet Susic's side retained the ball and passed it confidently with Miralem Pjanic and skipper Zvjezdan Misimovic providing the engine in the middle of the park as Dzeko, despite not really featuring much in the game, still managing to keep Richard Dunne on his toes throughout.
As is the case with the Republic, their determination shone through during the sun-soaked afternoon and it was not really until the 40th minute that Kieren Westwood was called upon to make a save.