CHRISTOS TZOLIS HAD not yet finished his celebratory 15-yard knee slide when vast swathes of Republic of Ireland fans left their seats in unison and headed for the exits.
In the seconds before Greece made it 2-0 with that drilled left-footed strike in the 87th minute, the stadium announcer confirmed an attendance of 37,274.
By the time Ireland re-started there was barely half that remaining.
When five minutes of stoppage time was relayed over the PA there were groans and more people heading home.
Then another ignominy as the man-of-the-match award was given to Will Smallbone.
Ireland fans booed, some just laughed.
For a squad so desperately short of confidence and morale, such a reaction will linger. Especially for a player who has shown a capability to pose a threat and whose sole crime here was not being deserving of the award.
There were more boos at full-time.
Heimir Hallgrímsson bore the look of a manager that realises surviving relegation from the Nations League is already an uphill battle.
This is not what a fresh start is supposed to sound like, but then old habits die hard for this squad and it seems that finding a new belief will take time.
Conceding an early goal after the half-time break, and from outside the box, had a familiar feeling. Fotis Ioannidis was afforded far too much space between the Ireland defence and midfield and punished them accordingly with a well-placed shot.
Ireland got into a couple of dangerous areas in response to this but didn’t have the quality to draw level.
At the end they were punished by a more efficient and ruthless outfit. Reaching Greece’s level is the aim and next month’s double header away in Athens and Finland will provide another test of the resolve of everyone in involved.
This night finished with boos and jeers and it started with groans after just two minutes when Robbie Brady attempted a pass down the left for the advancing Jason Knight not far off being in line with the 18-yard box.
But the Ireland left full – they reverted to a back four – under hit the ball and it was cut out for a throw.
But maybe that was all part of the plan as inside the opening 20 minutes whenever the ball went out in similar positions play was slowed and the box flooded.
Dara O’Shea arrowed this first one in and when it required a VAR check not to award a penalty the earlier groans turned to ‘ooohhhs’ as some form of attacking joy seemed likely.
A few minutes later, on the opposite side and a similar distance from the box, O’Shea trotted over but this time Nathan Collins was penalised for climbing on his man.
A third long throw on 19 minutes from Andrew Omobamidele was easily cleared from the right and it was not a tactic deployed thereafter in the first half.
Greece began to get a foothold as Ireland’s reconfigured midfield attempted to try and get to grips. The visitors hadn’t got the quality to punish Ireland in this period and that allowed Hallgrímsson’s side the luxury of time to get their bearings.
That, naturally, will be the story of this Nations League campaign as the new manager, and coaching staff, mould things to their liking.
An indication of how the midfield could operate well was with one rotation midway through the half.
Smallbone dropped out to the right, Alan Browne was allowed advance forward – often beyond sole striker Sammie Szmodics – and Jason Knight came in from his left slot to take a simple pass that opened up the space behind the Bristol City man.
Instead of letting the ball run across his body or take a touch to open out the play for Robbie Brady, he went back into trouble and the move broke down.
Little details that will be picked up on and improved.
Jayson Molumby was holding the fort more often than not at the base in front of his defenders but he, too, had licence to create angles.
Diagonal balls in the direction of Chiedozie Ogbene on the right had most joy and while the winger’s eye-catching strike just before the break caught the eye, before correctly being disallowed for offside, there was another example earlier in the half that showed how Ireland could get up the pitch quickly and sustain pressure.
He got above Kostas Tsimikas and beat the Liverpool man to his own knock down. Knight and Smallbone were in support, a tidy reverse pass from the latter sending Knight into the box for a low cross that had to be cleared for another corner.
A counter attack right on the stroke of half time offered more encouragement that there could be a different way for Ireland to find a way through.
It started with Browne breaking up play and coming away with the ball and ended with him firing a tame shot over the bar from a good central area just outside the box after Smallbone and Ogbene combined well down the right to create the chance.
And then the Greeks stuck a pin in any optimism with that early goal after the break.
Just five minutes in, Molumby switched off to what was behind him, Smallbone was also caught ball watching while the Ireland defence was flat footed as Ioannidis found space in the D and curled a deft strike with his left foot into the top corner as Caoimhín Kelleher looked on far closer to the opposite post.
Ireland needed a response and it came in the form of one long throw into the box followed by a dangerous Ogbene cross to the back where Knight attacked it with purpose but executed his header tamely.
Hallgrímsson, too, had to show his ability to offer a solution of his own given one of the key reasons the FAI employed him was their belief in his in-game changes to personnel and tactics.
Evan Ferguson replaced Molumby on 64 minutes and a double change with just under a quarter of an hour to go saw Kasey McAteer and Matt Doherty come on for Knight and Omobamidele, respectively.
But everything still felt the same as Ireland struggled to not even create but find ways of sustaining pressure or looking dangerous. Those moments were sparse in the first half but when they had to really chase the game and avoid a second defeat of this window there still wasn’t the ability to find a way.
Kasey McAteer was lively off the bench and created an opening for Brady on the overlap only for his pull back to bounce off Smallbone.
His, and Ireland’s night, would have a worse ending when Greece killed the game and the reaction of the home fans to the midfielder’s man-of-the-match award left a lot to be desired.
