ENDS ON A SARR NOTE

Palace cup hero Ismaila comes off the bench to deny Ireland victory after McAteer grabbed his first goal in a green jersey

- BY MARK MCCADDEN

FA CUP winner Ismaila Sarr came off the bench last night to earn Senegal a draw in Dublin - and ruin Heimir Hallgrímsson's hopes of claiming a little piece of Irish footballing history.

The Boys in Green were on course for their third straight win of the calendar year - for the first time since 2007 - thanks to Kasey McAteer's early opener.

Never before has an Irish team kicked off their year with four consecutive wins, so this would have added a bit of spice to next Tuesday's game in Luxembourg.

But Crystal Palace winger Sarr put an end to that when he smashed home the rebound after Caoimhin Kelleher stuck out a leg to deny fellow substitute Cherif Ndiaye' shot.

Visiting manager Pape Bouna Thiaw put out an inexperienced starting 11, five of whom had fewer than 10 appearances going into last night's game - including previously uncapped goalkeeper Yehvann Diouf.

Monaco midfielder Krepin Diatta, winning his 44th cap, was their most experienced starter as they were overrun by their hosts for much of the game, until Thiaw threw on several of his more seasoned stars.

On the Irish side, eyebrows were raised when the hosts lined out somewhere between a 4-4-2 and 4-4-1-1 formation, with Ipswich Town midfielder Jack Taylor (right) the closest man to Celtic striker Adam Idah.

Taylor had one relatively prolific season in League One with Peterbor-ough, when he scored 10 goals in 52 appearances.