A missed opportunity in Croker. Giovanni Trapattoni's Ireland side weren't world-beaters here last night but then they didn't have to beat the world. They had plenty of the game against a so-so Bulgaria side but just never managed to put them away, heading off into the frigid Dublin night with a 1-1 draw despite being ahead inside the first minute. It'll do for the moment but nobody left in any real doubt that it could have been more.

It's hardly fair on them really. They plug away in their daily lives, putting down their days in a country most of them didn't grow up in, all the while hearing from home that the one they left behind when they were teenagers is swirling down the plughole. Then a shower of jock types who went to schools they grew up laughing at win some rugby matches and are suddenly hailed as the saviours of the nation.

And so through no fault of their own, they're stuck with having to keep the collective chin up, as if anything less than a win last night would have been an affront to the general populace. Tough gig.

For ages though, it looked like they would be up to it. Not because they were all that slick in possession or clever in attack and not because they were able to call upon reserves of class that the Bulgarians lacked. No, they looked up to it because they toiled from whistle to whistle, dug in and made the 4-4-2 Trapattoni has beaten into them functional and strong. They filched an early lead and then set about defending it from Robbie Keane all the way back. And although Bulgaria looked dangerous at times, it was only a stray Kevin Kilbane toe that kept them from the win in the end.

It wasn't zippy and nor was it at all easy on the eye but look at the Group Eight table on page two this morning. Even with the draw, Ireland are still seven points clear of the sides in third place – last night's opponents and Cyprus – and it will take a monumental collapse now for them not to at least be in a play-off when the whole race is run. Whatever else they are under Trapattoni, they're not really a collapsing kind of side.

Oh, there are problems. Be in no doubt about that. Trap's central midfield contains a pair of prison officers where the occasional touch of a master criminal is needed. Glenn Whelan and Keith Andrews are charged with containment and show very little ambition beyond their brief. That's clearly as their manager decrees it and they achieved precisely what he wanted from them last night, making Ireland very tough to play through and keeping Bulgaria at arm's length.

But for every yin a yang. No surging midfielders left all responsibility in attack on the shoulders of Aiden McGeady and Stephen Hunt on the wings, the only other option a string of long balls aimed at Kevin Doyle's head. It barely needs saying that the set-piece goal that put them in the box seat last night won't always materialise.

But no matter. It did last night, a pleasant reward for a hurtling start by Ireland. Hunt, who played throughout like a man keen to make up for the curious patchiness that has accompanied the majority of his starts, robbed the ball inside the opening 10 seconds and drew a dozy foul. He took the free himself, John O'Shea flicked it on and Richard Dunne nipped in at the back post like a student jumping the queue in a bar.

That should have been plenty. An early goal, a 60,000-plus home crowd, an opposition short a couple of its best players. It should have been a trampoline, instead it was dead ground. The visitors began the game asleep but Ireland never managed the second goal that would have been the pillow over Bulgarian faces. They should have – Dimitar Ivankov in the Bulgarian goal made fine saves from Robbie Keane and McGeady in the second half – but the only other goal of the night came when Stiliyan Petrov's 74th-minute cross flicked off Kilbane and rolled past Shay Given.

On to Bari it is then, a chance to suck all mystery from the group left behind them. Pity.

Group eight round-up

Italy took advantage of Ireland's slip up when picking up a 2-0 win over Montenegro in Podgorica. Andrea Pirio had the visitors in front from the pena;ty spot on 11 minutes and after some nervous moments, the win was made safe by Glampaolo Pazzini. The result moved the Italians two clear at the top ahead of Wednesday night's showdown in Bari.

At the other end of the group, Cyprus climbed out of last place with a 2-1 over Georgia. Michael Costantinou gave Cyprus the lead in the 33rd minute after picking up a through ball from Chrysostomos Michail. Dimitris Christofi made it two in the 56th but georgia pulled a goal back from a Levan Koblasvill penalty but it was too little, too late.