AN INJURY scare to captain Katie McCabe and a humbling defeat, the analysis of which should pass plenty of hours in the air today, didn’t provide Vera Pauw’s side with the send-off they wanted.
Tallaght Stadium’s turnstiles clicked a record 7,632 times for a senior women’s international and they all cheered their World Cup bound stars loudly in the end.
But despite a strong first-half performance, which ended with a pair of injury-time sucker punches, there wasn’t a whole lot to get worked up about.
READ MORE: Katie McCabe suffers injury scare in Ireland's final World Cup warm-up game
The focus today and in days to come will be on the soft goals conceded, which undid all the hard work that came beforehand.
Maelle Lakrar, the young Montpellier wing-back, scored her first two senior international goals in just her third appearance, while Lyon striker Eugenie Le Sommer scored her 89th goal for France.
Kyra Carusa had the ball in the French net early on, but was robbed of a famous goal by what seemed to be an incorrect offside decision.
It would in no way have flattered the Girls in Green, who began in encouraging fashion.
There was much to enjoy in the first-half from an Irish perspective, as Pauw’s charges went toe-to-toe with one of the favourites for the World Cup.
McCabe and Heather Payne were providing attacking width from their wing-back positions, while Sinead Farrelly, in her first appearance on Irish soil, showed some classy touches in midfield.
Marissa Sheva was also making her home debut and her link-up play with Carusa early on showed promise.
At the back, Ireland looked solid enough, until they were breached twice in first-half stoppage time.
There were two main talking points in the first 45 minutes - Carusa’s offside goal and McCabe’s ankle.
Carusa’s display at the top of the Irish attack merited a goal and she thought she had one on 11 minutes when he raced onto Farrelly’s flick.
The San Diego-born striker carried the ball into the area and applied a fine finish across goalkeeper Pauline Payraud-Magnin and inside the left-hand upright.
Replays showed that the flag should have stayed by assistant referee Emily Carney’s side - and perhaps the France net-minder decided against going for the shot having seen it raised.
But the shot was precise and hit with enough pace that it could well have beaten the Juventus keeper regardless.
Then there was the collective gasp that rang around Tallaght Stadium when McCabe pulled up and then went to ground, holding her left ankle.
This was just three minutes after the Carusa offside. The Arsenal ace made a pass with the outside of her boot and seemed to catch her toe in the turf, putting a strain on her ankle.
She hobbled on a few yards, went down and immediately called to the bench. After nearly two minutes of treatment, she was back up again.
But after trying to run it off, her night finally came to an end in the 31st minute when she was replaced by Izzy Atkinson.
At half-time, word came around that McCabe rolled her ankle and was taken off as a precaution.
By then, the complexion of the game had changed completely inside three stoppage time minutes.
The clock had barely ticked into the 46th minute when Lakrar skipped around Atkinson and sent a low ball across the six-yard box.
Heather Payne’s effort to clear only sent the ball back from where it came and Lakrar reacted quickly enough to divert it under Brosnan with her left knee.
While in an offside position, the fact that the ball came to her off an Irish boot meant that the goal stood.
Still reeling from that concession, Ireland found themselves two-down by the interval.
This was a much cleaner finish. Sakina Karchaoui passed inside to Sandie Toltetti, she fed Kenza Dali on the edge of the box and her slip pass to Le Sommer was met with a clinical right-footed finish.
What a disappointing end to a half that had offered plenty of promise.
Carusa was named player of the match, thanks to her hold-up play, which was drawing her teammates into attack and giving the French more problems than they might have expected.
Carusa and Sheva look to be gaining a fine understanding together.
It almost led to a chance on 19 minutes when a clever Carusa pass sent the Washington Spirit attacker sprinting into the area. Quick reactions from the France keeper averted the danger.
When Carusa intercepted Peyraud-Magnin’s pass to Lakrar, Sheva was again on the move, but Lakrar was quick enough to recover and block the cross.
The best the visitors had to offer before their stoppage time double came from a rush of blood to Courtney Brosnan’s head, as she raced outside her area to chase the ball.
Selma Bacha gained control, but luckily for the Irish goalkeeper the angle was against Bacha and her effort sailed into the side-netting.
But with a two-goal cushion, France were never going to let this one slip and they got their third on 61 minutes. It was another goal that would have concerned Pauw.
Lakrar was allowed to run unmarked from the edge of the area to powerfully head Dali’s corner into the right-hand corner of the net.
Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts
