Givens starts by stopping Republic's losing run

Greece 0 Republic of Ireland

The Republic of Ireland, like Arsenal, do not generally do goalless draws but they played one out here in Athens last night on the lowest of low-key occasions, marking the interregnum between Mick McCarthy's resignation after almost seven years and the appointment of a successor. It was the first such result since one of the most frustrating of McCarthy's 68 matches as manager, away to Turkey in a play-off that eliminated the Irish from the European Championship exactly three years ago.

Don Givens, in temporary charge, had lost 11 of his original party of 25 but was determined to avoid a defeat after successive losses to Russia and Switzerland had undermined McCarthy's position. He emphasised the point by making only one substitution all evening – a defensive one in the last five minutes – in contrast to the German Otto Rehhagel's seven changes at the interval and two more shortly afterwards. Greece improved slowly as the game wore on, whereas Ireland, having begun brightly, did not figure as an attacking force thereafter.

"I'd like to have won, but I'm delighted not to have been beaten," Givens said after what will almost certainly be his last match in charge as well as the first. "The sooner the appointment is made, the better for everyone."

His starting XI still contained eight Premiership players, with Matt Holland, hardly a novice, the only player from outside the top flight in England or Scotland other than Glen Crowe, the Bohemians striker who became the first League of Ireland player to win a full cap for 16 years. That made the quality of the proceedings hugely disappointing, although it was was not helped by a soft, bobbly pitch that more than once caused Shay Given in Ireland's goal to miscue embarrassingly. Kenny Cunningham was outstanding in front of him and the captain's partner, John O'Shea of Manchester United, recovered after an uncertain beginning to his first full appearance at this level.

A balmy evening, coupled with the appearance of six Panathinaikos players in their home stadium and three from the other principal clubs in the capital, AEK and Olympiakos, was not sufficient to encourage more than a few thousand locals to turn out. They saw the game peter out after a lively start. Crowe, who is poised to become the domestic game's leading scorer for the third season running, might have made the most dramatic of impressions, hitting a strong volley that the goalkeeper, Antonis Nikopolidis, held.

The Irish threatened to profit from their favoured tactic before the era of two smaller strikers in Robbie Keane and Damien Duff, using Tottenham's Garry Doherty as a target man; Crowe's first chance came that way and so did the next, when Doherty headed square and Lee Carsley miskicked, the Bohemians man twisting to shoot past the far post.

All that occurred in the first 10 minutes, during which time Given, at the other end, suffered his first nasty moment: a pass played back to him by O'Shea bobbled at just the wrong moment, reducing the Newcastle goalkeeper to a miscue that bounced back past him, wide of a post.

Greece, who have lost to Spain and Ukraine but beaten Armenia in their Euro 2004 qualifying group – they play away to Northern Ireland in April – did not create anything until shortly before half-time, when Given held, without bobbles, a deflected shot from Vassilis Tsartas and a header by Angelos Haristeas.

Rehhagel's mass changes in the second half not only gave Burnley some rare international recognition, with a first cap for the 21-year-old striker Dimitris Papadopoulos, but had a beneficial effect on the team, but the only late alarm came when yet another of the substitutes, Yiannis Amanatidis, pulled a shot across goal. At the final whistle the small crowd bayed their displeasure and would probably have agreed that neither side deserved to win.

GREECE (4-4-2): Nikopolidis; Fyssas (both Panathinaikos), Dabizas (Newcastle Utd), Kyrgiakos, Seitaridis (both Panathinaikos); Giannakopoulos (Olympiakos), Tsartas (AEK Athens), Basinas, Karagounis (both Panathinaikos); Nikolaidis (AEK Athens), Haristeas (Werder Bremen). Substitutes: Hiotis (AEK) for Nikopolidis, h-t; Patsatzoglou (Olympiakos) for Seitaridis, h-t; Venetidis (Olympiakos) for Fyssas, h-t; Goumas (Panathinaikos) for Dabizas, h-t; Georgiadis (PAOK Salonika) for Giannakopoulos, h-t, Amanatidis (VfB Stuttgart) for Tsartas, h-t, Papadopoulos (Burnley) for Nikolaidis, h-t; Zagorakis (AEK) for Basinas, 60; Kafes (PAOK) for Karagounis, 60.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (4-4-2): Given (Newcastle Utd); Finnan (Fulham), O'Shea (Manchester Utd), Cunningham (Birmingham City), Dunne (Manchester City); Healy (Celtic), Carsley (Everton), Holland (Ipswich Town), McPhail (Leeds Utd); Crowe (Bohemians), Doherty (Tottenham Hotspur). Substitute: Delap (Southampton) for Crowe, 85.

Referee: A Trentalange (Italy).