A James Collins clearance was picked up by Jeff Whitely on 11 mins and he showed an excellent touch to steady himself and fire home from outside the box. Harsh to blame Collins for that one, he made the clearance but was let down by the players in front of him.
Collins will want to forget the second Irish goal as he slipped on the Millennium Stadium turf to allow David Healy a free run on goal. Jones saved his first effort but was powerless to stop Healy heading in the goal. Then bizarrely Healy was booked for kicking the corner flag in celebration and then booked again for a gesture to the Welsh fans as he ran along the touchline. He was heading for the shower when the game restarted.
After that it was all Wales. At times it was like watching Cardiff City try to break down stubborn defences. We lacked that final quality. Wales though did pull back 2 goals to get the draw.
Hartson headed in from Bellamy's cross and then with 15 mins to go Earnie headed home a cross from John Oster.
James Collins nearly carved out a winner in the dying minutes but he could not steer Bellamy's cross into the net at the far post with Earnie unmarked in the middle.
Gabbidon and Collins started as the central defensive pairing and Paul Parry capped a memorable week with another cap. On Monday his wife gave birth to a son.
Overall though the majority of the 63,000+ crowd left frustrated at Wales' failure to win.
Great support from NI who made a fair amount of noise.
Match report.
Graham Kavanagh was a late sub for Ireland as they drew 1 - 1 in Switzerland.
Match report.