

Although a draw at home to Hungary in their opening qualifier was not the ideal result, Ireland came into this game with a degree of momentum, having come from 2-0 down to salvage what could prove to be a crucial point.
However, in the final minute of first-half normal time, Armenia were awarded a penalty and Eduard Spertsyan converted from the spot to give the home side a half-time advantage.
Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson made two changes at the break, but just six minutes after the restart, the Boys in Green found themselves two goals behind when Ranos rolled into an empty net from a matter of yards.
That goal could have knocked the stuffing out of Ireland, but they were able to halve the deficit just six minutes later as Ferguson curled his right-footed effort past Cancarevic to keep the visitors’ hopes unusefully alive.