Ireland Holds Canada to Draw as Ogbene Scores After Parrott Miss
The banners, the noise, the World Cup buzz – Montreal had turned up to wave Canada off in style. The Republic of Ireland refused to play their part.
Chiedozie Ogbene’s sharp finish, pouncing on the rebound from Troy Parrott’s saved penalty, earned a 1-1 draw at Saputo Stadium and cut through the home side’s party atmosphere. It came against the grain, against the flow, and very much against the script.
For Heimir Hallgrimsson, it was more than just a stubborn result. It was a night when an experimental Ireland side took its bruises early, steadied itself, and finished with a clutch of new caps – many of them from the League of Ireland – standing toe to toe with a World Cup-bound team.
Canada seize control, Ireland rocked by own goal
The tone was set almost immediately. Two minutes in, Tajon Buchanan forced Mark Travers into work, the Bournemouth goalkeeper parrying a stinging drive as Canada came out with the intensity of a side desperate to impress on home soil.
Ireland had one bright spark in that early storm. On nine minutes, Dawson Devoy, making a landmark start as Bohemians captain and the first League of Ireland player capped since Jack Byrne in 2020, combined neatly with Ogbene and Parrott. The Spurs forward slipped Devoy into the box, but from a tight angle and under the onrushing Maxime Crepeau, the midfielder couldn’t steer his effort on target. It caused a flutter of panic in the Canadian defence, then vanished. So did Ireland’s attacking threat for the rest of the half.
Jesse Marsch’s team tightened their grip. Buchanan on one flank, Liam Millar on the other, repeatedly stretched an Irish back line that never looked settled. Corners began to pile up, pressure mounting in waves.
The breakthrough felt inevitable, the manner of it cruel. Midway through the first half, Stephen Eustaquio whipped in a dangerous corner from the left. Parrott, stationed at the near post, flicked it on. The ball slammed into Jake O’Brien and ricocheted past Travers. Wrong place, wrong time, and an own goal that summed up Ireland’s uncomfortable first 45 minutes.
By half-time, Canada were in command, Ireland deep in their shell and grateful just to reach the whistle a single goal down.
Hallgrimsson rolls the dice – and the game tilts
Hallgrimsson did not wait to see if the pattern would fix itself. Jamie McGrath and Liam Scales arrived for Devoy and Corrie Ndaba at the break, a clear attempt to inject composure and balance.
Initially, it changed little. Canada resumed where they had left off, pinning Ireland back and dictating territory. Jonathan David buzzed between the lines, Buchanan kept driving at James Abankwah, and Cyle Larin occupied both centre-backs with his movement.
Then came the twist.
Just before the hour, with Ireland still struggling to build any rhythm, Larin misjudged a high ball in the box. His boot caught McGrath on the head. It was reckless, clumsy, and it handed Ireland a lifeline: penalty.
Parrott stepped up, alone with the noise, the expectation, and Crepeau. The striker went for precision; the goalkeeper guessed right and saved superbly. The stadium erupted.
But the ball stayed alive.
Ogbene reacted quicker than anyone, darting in to sweep the rebound into the empty net for his fifth international goal. One kick had deflated the Canadian crowd; the next had silenced them.
From nowhere, Ireland were level.
Young faces, old resilience
The equaliser changed the feel of the contest. Ireland, who had been second best for long stretches, began to play higher up the pitch. Passes started to stick. McGrath found pockets. Ogbene carried menace on the break.
Canada still carried a threat. With 20 minutes left, Larin almost atoned for his earlier error when Nathan Collins slipped, gifting him a sight of goal. The striker seized on the mistake, only for Travers and a scrambling defence to smother the danger.
Hallgrimsson kept leaning into the future. On came Mason Melia for his second cap, the teenage Tottenham forward replacing Jaden Umeh. Killian Phillips followed, then, late on, Joe Hodge. Each change nudged the average age down, the risk factor up.
Melia nearly wrote a story he would have dined out on for years. On 83 minutes, Ogbene, again the live wire, swung in a cross from the right. It picked out Melia in space, the 18-year-old perfectly placed to turn the night on its head. He connected cleanly, but Crepeau denied him with another strong save. A glorious moment, gone in an instant.
As the clock ran down, the League of Ireland thread in this Ireland side grew thicker. St Patrick’s Athletic attacker Kian Leavy and Shamrock Rovers winger Adam Brennan came on alongside Hodge, joining Devoy in ending a six-year wait for domestic-based players to feature for the senior team.
The closing minutes belonged to this experimental, locally flavoured XI. They dug in, managed the ball when they could, and refused to yield to Canada’s late push.
Canada leave with their World Cup send-off slightly soured, a dominant first half undone by one rash challenge and one razor-sharp reaction from Ogbene. Ireland leave with a draw, a handful of new internationals, and the sense that something is quietly being rebuilt.
Next stop is the Nations League in the autumn, where these auditions will harden into real decisions. Who from this fresh-faced cast has done enough to stay in the picture when the competitive lights come back on?
