Wrap-up:

It's a point for Ireland, but one can't help but feel frustrated after that performance. Ireland were by far the better side in the first half and conceded a very soft equaliser before the break. Keane missed a penalty and then had a guilt-edged chance to win it at the death.

Very poor second half overall, neither side seemed to want to win it and if anything, Slovakia seemed the more likely winners at the finish. Shane Long was excellent for Ireland, Keith Fahey looked very tidy before coming off and McGeady looked decent on the left again. The win was there for the taking, but a point wasn't a disaster in the end. That's all from us for the evening, thanks for tuning in.

Full-time.

Gibson's free-kick eventually falls to Glenn Whelan on the edge of the box. His shot goes straight at Kucka, who stays down and in the process, prevents Ireland from launching a counter-attack when the ball eventually makes it down the other end.

Ireland have a free-kick from a dangerous area on the right after a bad tackle on McGeady by Karhan. One last chance perhaps?

2 minutes injury time for somebody to steal a win...

What a chance for Robbie Keane. Kilbane's ball falls to the Spurs striker at the back post and after a super first touch, he blazes the ball over the bar from six yards. George Hamilton blames it on his lack of game time at Spurs, but a striker should be tucking it away from there.

And he almost does straight away, a deflected cross falls right on the head of Oravec, whose header loops narrowly wide of the post with Shay Given rooted to his line.

Final substitution for Slovakia, Oravec on for Jendrisek, who has about ten minutes to make an impact.

Bertie has been onto us again:

"A Russia draw would have helped".

There's still time Bertie, but that was probably Macedonia's last chance.

78'

Good break by Ireland, McGeady feeds Gibson on the right, but Gibson takes way too long to shoot and is easily blocked down. McGeady has been Ireland's best player second half.

The life has really been sucked out of this game. If there's going to be a winner here, it could well be from a set-piece or a mistake rather than a moment of inspiration.

Macedonia waste a chance to equalise against Russia from the penalty spot. Pity.

Slovakia are awful, need to go for the win here, says Niall from Galway.

You're not wrong there, Niall, but in fairness, we haven't created anything of note for a while and have just taken off Fahey, who was probably our best player so far. Loads of time to nick a winner yet though.

Substitutions on both sides. Stoch and Holosko on for Weiss and Sestak for Slovakia, while Andy Keogh about to come on for Keith Fahey for Ireland.

Decent long range effort from Hubocan is parried by Given and cleared to safety by St Ledger. First decent effort from Slovakia in quite a while.

Slovakia have been really sloppy in possession. This game is there for the taking, but nobody seems to want to take a hold of it at present

England scoreless against Montenegro so far. Uninspiring fare by all accounts.

Another good delivery by Fahey, knocked back across goal by Long, but McGeady and Kilbane both have efforts blocked by the Slovak defence. Second half not up to the tempo of the first so far.

Italy and Serbia game has been suspended after 15 minutes because of crowd trouble. Apparently Serbia will have to forfeit game and accept a 3-0 defeat.

Niall from Galway, who rejoiced in Paul Green's departure earlier, is a happier man now.

"Like the look of that midfield now," he says. The thing is though Niall, if everyone was fit, in all likelihood three of that midfield would be replaced - Andrews, Duff and Lawrence in for Gibson, McGeady and Fahey, although surely Fahey is worth keeping on the basis of what we've seen so far.

Super run by Karhan in the Slovak midfield, which started with a delightful nutmeg of Glenn Whelan after Gibson had lost the ball in the middle. Almost created a chance for Hamsik, but Dunne got in with a vital interception on the edge of the box.

One man not happy with Keane's penalty, another man not happy with Glenn Whelan's recent performances.

Joshua Walsh says:

"Whelan has just cost us two goals in two games from slack marking, he probably wouldn't do that if he was playing regularly for his club. He's average at best and he'll give it everything I don't doubt that but you need game time to stay sharp at any level never mind international!"

Fair point Joshua, but at least Whelan is playing for a Premier League club, unlike some of his team-mates. Interesting to see how long he'll be favoured ahead of Marc Wilson, who seems to have gone ahead of him in the pecking order at club level.

The second half is underway in Zilina

Butch from Balla isn't happy with Robbie Keane's effort from the spot and feels it might have something to do with his club situation.

"What a horrible penalty by keane..his situation at Tottenham has really had a poor impact on him and maybe he should have pushed to get out of there over the summer..even a move in january aint gonna do much good for him..what did his time in Celtic achieve??"

You're probably right, Butch, his spell at Celtic probably restored his confidence to an extent, but it hasn't done him a lot of good since. I didn't really fancy him for that penalty for some reason...

2030:

Bertie in Maynooth has been in touch.

"With Fahey and Gibson on we get to see if it's better or worse. Shame injury forces this change though", he says.

I think the midfield looks far more balanced with the two boys in there Bertie. Fahey has been excellent and looks a better bet for the long term than Lawrence, who was probably only there for set-pieces. Jury still out on Gibson for Ireland, but hopefully he'll make his case tonight. 

I have just been informed that rioting between Serbian hooligans and police has delayed the game between Italy and Serbia in Group C. The game still hasn't started, an hour after the scheduled kick-off time.

Half time.

Poor enough penalty by Keane. Not enough pace, not enough accuracy and a perfect height for the 'keeper to make the save. A real pity that we aren't going in ahead at the break because we've been the better side. Slovakia will be greatly encouraged by Mucha's penalty save and by the fact that they can hardly be as poor in the second half.

Penalty saved!!!

Bad goalkeeping gives Ireland a chance to go back in front before half-time. McGeady was slightly ahead of the defender chasing a hopeful ball forward, but surely there was no need for Mucha to come all that way. McGeady got there first and was felled and Robbie Keane has the chance to restore Ireland's lead...

Penalty Ireland!!!

Thank God Green's gone off, what a waste of space, says Niall in Galway.

Gibson has his chance now, time to start living up to the expectation.

Paul Green is down with what looks like a hamstring injury and he's had to be stretchered off. Darron Gibson comes on in his place.

Ireland almost go back in front immediately. Excellent work down the left by Shane Long, who sends a super ball across the face of goal to Robbie Keane, who fails to make proper contact from three yards. Excellent chance gone a begging for Ireland.

Having done nothing for most of the first half, the hosts get back into the game with a goal of real simplicity. A corner from the left is flicked on to the back post where the onrushing Durica heads home despite the best efforts of Glenn Whelan. A real sickener to concede like that when we were in control.

GOAL SLOVAKIA!!! Durica

It has to be said that Slovakia have been very poor so far. They've offered very little and Ireland have contained their attack with little difficulty.

Robbie Keane with an instinctive effort on the turn from just outside the area that goes narrowly wide of the post. Ireland definitely the better side at the moment.

Keith Fahey with a super effort from outside the box after the Slovaks fail to deal with a long ball in the direction of Shane Long. Super technique to scissor-kick it towards goal, it's just a pity it was straight at the 'keeper. Fahey has been excellent so far.

From the free-kick following the foul on Long, Keith Fahey swings in a beauty that isn't dealt with by the Slovak defence. Sean St Ledger reacts quickest and slots it home from six yards.

GOAL IRELAND!!! St Ledger

Shane Long taken out of it by Durica on the right wing, the second time in a few minutes the Reading man has been the victim of some roughhousing by the Slovakian defence.

Weiss cuts in from the right hand side and puts it on plate on the edge of the box for Kucka, whose effort goes well wide of the post. Let off for Ireland, Kukca should have done a lot better.

Apart from wasting possession, Green seems to keeping tabs on the Slovakia dangerman Marek Hamsik. Or maybe Hamsik has been asked to keep a close eye on Paul Green, who knows?

Fahey with a couple of nice touches before Paul Green gives the ball away...again.

Russia are in front against Macedonia in Skopje. Kerzhakov with the goal.

A couple of decent crosses by Robbie Keane that Shane Long narrowly fails to get on the end of. Decent passing from Ireland so far, God even Paul Green had been looking good... until he knocked the ball out of play that is!

The compact nature of the stadium in Zilina certainly hasn't hindered the atmosphere. The crowd are absolutely buzzing.

We're underway in Zilina...

Judging by the anthem, there seems to be a decent Irish presence in the crowd in Zilina. The last time Ireland played in Slovakia was in Bratislava in a game now remembered for the infamous 'Grannygate' saga which followed it. It was of course, Stephen Ireland's last game for his country.

Billy from Belfast, who so delighted in slagging us off during our coverage of Ireland v Russia has been on again and it seems his tail is very much between his legs.

'Apologies for the slagging in the previous matchtracker. We didn't have the best of times today. Damn you Brian Kerr,' he says.

No hard feelings Billy.

Northern Ireland disappointed this evening with a 1-1 draw against the Faroe Islands. Click here for more on that one.

The RTE studio is an animated place as usual before the game. Liam Brady is making a passionate defence of Trapattoni's management, claiming that he has done well to do what he has done considering the quality of players available to him, although he does admit his disappointment that Darron Gibson isn't given a chance instead of Paul Green.  Brady has a point but he has gone a little over the top in his defence of the Irish management since leaving the set-up and returning as a pundit. Thoughts?

Armenia have already beaten Andorra 4-0 in Group B and have gone to the top of the table in the process on seven points. Our dodgy 1-0 victory in Yerevan seems like a decent result all of a sudden.

Marek Hamsik and Vladimir Weiss are the main ones to watch out for our opponents this evening, while Sestak looked decent at the World Cup. Without wanting to patronisingly refer to Slovakia as a 'typical Eastern European side', they are decent technically, but judging by their performances against Armenia and against New Zealand in the World Cup, they are definitely beatable. Hopefully Trapattoni will urge his players to show some ambition, but given his history, that seems unlikely. A draw wouldn't be a surprise by any stretch of the imagination and probably wouldn't be a disaster to be honest.

As expected, only two changes to the Irish team that lost to Russia, both of which are enforced. Keith Fahey takes the place of Liam Lawrence on the right side of midfield, while Shane Long replaces former Reading team-mate Kevin Doyle up front.

Teams:

Ireland: Shay Given, John O’Shea, Sean St Ledger, Richard Dunne, Kevin Kilbane, Keith Fahey, Glenn Whelan, Paul Green, Aiden McGeady, Shane Long, Robbie Keane

Substitutes: Joe Murphy, Andy Keogh, Paul McShane, Marc Wilson, Darron Gibson, Kevin Foley, Greg Cunningham

Slovakia: Jan Mucha, Jan Durica, Radoslav Zabavnik, Miroslav Karhan, Vladimir Weiss, Stanislav Sestak, Tomas Hubocan, Kornel Salata, Marek Hamsik, Erik Jendrisek, Juraj Kucka

Substitutes: Dusan Pernis, Peter Pekarik, Mario Pecalka, Miroslav Stoch, Filip Holosko, Tomas Oravec, Filip Sebo

It's also fair to say that limited Derby County midfielder Paul Green is persona non grata with many fans of Irish football at the moment, not least in JOE towers. Here are five greens we believe could do a better job at the heart of the Irish midfield.

Here at JOE, we were a little miffed with Ireland's display against the Ruskies at the weekend. Here are five changes we believe need to be made to the team... and quickly.

Good evening folks and welcome to live coverage of Ireland's Euro 2012 qualifier against Slovakia in Zilina. The Boys in Green badly need a result this evening to get back on track in Group B and silence the many doubters that have let their displeasure be known in the wake of Ireland's shocking defeat to Russia on Friday evening. Just under three quarters of an hour to go until kick-off, I'll have team news for you shortly.