ON a Sunday when simple clockwork confounded so many, Martin O'Neill checked his watch more than most.

He really needn't have stressed so much though, given that his Republic of Ireland team only really get going when the minutes turn to seconds.

Last night at Lansdowne Road it was Shane Long's turn to time things to perfection when he pounced for a precious injury-time equaliser that broke such stubborn, stultifying Polish resistance. In doing so, the Southampton striker continued a trend that O'Neill's men kicked off on the opening night of this Group D race that looks like going all the way to the final minutes of the campaign. Ireland have plundered four points - half their total - from losing or drawing positions with injury-time goals in Georgia, Germany and now on home soil in Dublin.

On a night when a Polish invasion ensured a crackling atmosphere at a stadium that has struggled for noise on international football nights, a draw was the least Ireland deserved, especially after such a spirited steady response in the second-half. For the long-suffering citizens, however, the wait for a home victory over a 'big' team will stretch to June when Gordon Strachan's side visit for what will be a pivotal episode in this group's shake-up.

Not since 2001 - when Louis Van Gaal's Dutch were skewered - have the Republic defeated a side ranked above them on their own turf. When Slawomir Peszko slammed in an opener for the visitors mid-way through the first-half here, the prospect of that winless run coming to an end seemed distant. When the stadium clock hit 91 minutes, any positive result looked all but gone.

Enter Long. A deep corner from Hull City's Robbie Brady was calmly headed back into the danger zone by Wes Hoolahan - Ireland's most impressive player on the night - and the Southampton striker, only on the field nine minutes, reacted quickest to score his 12th international goal, but his first competitive strike for five years.

"I think in the first 45 minutes Poland were brilliant and it took us a while to get into them. The gaffer changed the shape and from then on we were in the game," Long said afterwards. "We would have been disappointed not to get a draw, we could have got the win. It could be a massive point at the end of the campaign.

"Losing three points is massive so to keep them within touching distance is big. I think we need to be wining our home games, we need make it a fortress, but the main thing is not to lose. We will take the draw."

Peszko's 26th-minute opener had looked to be enough to keep the Poles in the driving seat for one of the two automatic spots, but Long's intervention denied them at the death in a classic game of two halves.

O'Neill had admitted in the run-up to the match that defeat would represent a "big dent" to his side's hopes, and a tepid first-half display in front of a raucous crowd swelled by a large contingent from Ireland's sizeable Polish community did not augur well.

But the response after the break was concerted and was eventually rewarded to set up a potentially pivotal showdown with Scotland at the Aviva Stadium in June.