Irish maintain unbeaten run in Hungary

A goalless draw away to Hungary saw goalkeeper Shay Given and John O'Shea seize a chance to work on their fitness as the Republic of Ireland made it 14 games without loss ahead of their UEFA EURO 2012 campaign. Given played just the first half, but O'Shea came through the full match as the Irish prepared for their opening Group C fixture against Croatia in Poznan, Poland, on Sunday before the onlooking Croatian coach Slaven Bilic. Given made some sharp stops as Giovanni Trapattoni's kept their unbeaten run going at the Ferenc Puskas Stadium in difficult, slippery conditions. Hungarian midfielder Balazs Dzsudzsak twice brought the best out of Given with early chances as the hosts, who lost out to the Netherlands and Sweden in the qualifiers, enjoyed the better openings. At the other end, O'Shea saw his seventh-minute header from a Damien Duff cross sail just over before captain Robbie Keane also went close. Given then gave way to Keiren Westwood for the second half, while Jon Walters came on up front for Kevin Doyle as Trapattoni went through some permutations. Sunderland's Westwood then made an athletic stop to further frustrate Dzsudzsak before Stephen Hunt cleared a late Imre Szabics shot off the line.