It may not be a crisis defeat of Bulgarian proportions but this reverse will give Giovanni Trapattoni plenty of food for thought as winter beckons. By extension, it shall also provide ample amounts of ammunition for his critics.

Anything other than a defeat would have given the Italian reason to assert that his graph of progress is on an upward curve as the calendar year draws to a close.

Alas, an error-strewn performance will remind the 69-year-old that he has a lot of work to do even if his subs nearly rescued a draw in an unexpectedly frantic conclusion.

Perhaps, it might even convince him that some of his innovations just have not worked. Once more, his midfield was exposed and his faith in certain players proved to be questionable. Little details? Bigger than that, unfortunately. This was the worst defensive display since that infamous evening in Nicosia.

Optimism

But he was far from despondent afterwards, stating that he had witnessed some causes for optimism.

"We did give our opponents too much space," he said, "Normally after we lose I am not happy, I am sad, but not this evening.

"For me, it's a positive because I got to look and check some new situations, like (Caleb) Folan. I got to confirm my opinion of some players, like Whelan and Gibson."

His positive take was at odds with the run of the match; the late flurry added a gloss which is in danger of hazing the post mortem.

On and off the park, this was a night that belonged to Poland. In the preliminaries, Shay Given had joked that half of Ireland's population hailed from the homeland of their opponents, but that ratio looked accurate in the context of the Croke Park attendance last night. The most vocal parts of the stadium were decked out in red and white.

From the outset, they had reasons to be cheerful with the volume button raised a couple of notches in the third minute when a free-kick from Lucasz Gargula found Mariusz Lewandowski who nipped in ahead of Folan and John O'Shea and steered his header beyond the clutches of Given.

Allied with the above average intensity from the stands, the early goal gave this encounter a bit more bite than the usual November friendly.

It was entertaining and it was open -- perhaps more than Trapattoni would have liked -- but then his team have been unaccustomed to chasing a lead since his bow against Serbia back in May.

Of course, it is a quandary that places an emphasis on creativity and, in this respect, Darron Gibson made a reasonable start with another threaded pass releasing the lively Folan, who did his long term prospects no harm, and on this occasion, his centre deserved better.

Nevertheless, there was no evidence present to render the Andy Reid matter obsolete.

The Poles, on the other hand, were deriving energy from lively right winger Jakub Blaszczykowski with the Borussia Dortmund man providing pace and trickery in equal measure, tormenting Kevin Kilbane.

Yet it was from set-pieces they were getting particular joy with goalscorer Lewandowski almost completing a brace in the 27th minute when finding ample freedom.

Still, his profligacy was nothing like that of Damien Duff who should have restored parity two minutes later after an incisive Kevin Doyle through ball, but drove into the side netting.

Worryingly for Trapattoni, the absence of Steven Reid was keenly felt. Gibson may have been more confident with his range of passing, but his partnership with Glenn Whelan was still displaying frailty with the Poles finding, as affairs progressed, that incursions could be made through the heart of the Irish engine room.

Their followers were loving it. The silent home fraternity were not. Heck, they even neglected to join in to the cursed Mexican wave started by the visitors, and you would have got long enough odds on that.

Five minutes before the interval, the Irish fans fell silent again as the Poles squandered a chance to double their lead.

Richard Dunne, who flew back from Manchester earlier in the day after a false alarm with relation to his wife's pregnancy, gifted the ball to lone Pole striker Pawel Brozek who seemed certain to convert before Dunne capitalised on his hesitancy to make a last ditch challenge to save his own bacon.

Before the half-time cuppa, Duff was given another opportunity to level with Folan the provider, but he has lost the yard of pace to get away from his pursuers; when he checked back, his finish was again inaccurate.

Trapattoni opted not to make any half-time switches, but Leo Beenhakker decided to withdraw his best player, Blaszczykowski.

Respite for Ireland? No chance, as within two minutes his replacement Roger Guerreiro, playing in the hole, dropped off Kilbane to collect a Gargula layoff and blast a daisycutter into the bottom corner.

Rocked by the concession, Ireland entered into their sloppiest period of the match. Short of the hour mark, another Polish sub Robert Lewandowski complacently wasted a gilt edged opening to make it three. For Trap, enough was enough; Alex Bruce and the brothers Hunt, Noel and Stephen, were sent on in place of McShane, the disappointing Keogh and the tired-looking Doyle. Shane Long and Keith Andrews -- who was given far less time to impress than promised -- soon followed with Duff and Gibson withdrawn.

Defensively, Ireland were scattered and Given was kept busy in keeping the scoreline respectable. The hosts had a few positive moments, but lacked the guile to forge a situation to get a shot away.

A handful of vain penalty shouts was the sum total of the endeavour until the final ten minutes when, after a series of headers, Long's attempt was cleared off the line by Dariusz Dudka.

"For 85 minutes it was good from us, but the last five minutes not so good," said Beenhakker.

Tipperary man Long was prominent in the Irish revival, earning a spot-kick with three minutes to go when Tomasz Jodlowiec was dubiously adjudged to have pulled him down.

Stephen Hunt converted his first international goal stylishly but from the restart, the Poles clinically added another with Robert Lewandowski producing the goal of the night with a left footed thunderbolt.

That was enough to send most of the Irish fans home in their droves, but they missed more drama as Folan teed up Andrews whose shot flashed beyond Lukasz Fabianski for a debut goal.

The Dubliner then almost succeeded in setting up Folan for what would have been an undeserved leveller, before a Kilbane strike was denied by Guerreiro as Poland spent the four minutes of injury-time under siege.

At the final whistle, their devotees celebrated feverishly. For Ireland, and for Trapattoni, the unbeaten record was over. And so was the honeymoon.

Ireland -- Given, McShane (Bruce 60), Dunne, O'Shea, Kilbane; Keogh (S Hunt 60), Gibson (Andrews 72), Whelan, Duff (Long 67); Doyle (N Hunt 60), Folan.

Poland -- Fabianski, Wasilewski, Dudka, Bosacki, Wawrzyniak; Blaszczykowski (Guerreiro 45), Boguski (Peszko 70), Gargula, M Lewandowski, Krzynowek (Jodlowiec 82); Brozek (R Lewandowski 45).

Ref -- K Jakobsson (Iceland).

- Daniel McDonnell