Friday's World Cup qualifier defeat to Sweden was a tortuous affair as Ireland fell behind and showed a complete inability to play their way back into the match.
However, the 2 - 2 draw with Austria back in March was more brutal in its denoument.
But you could see David Alaba's equaliser coming as Ireland found themselves fending off wave after wave of Austrian attacks.
Yet in the return leg in Vienna, a win is vital to give us a glimmer of hope for a Group C playoff spot. Giovanni Trapattoni's tactics have proved to be more successful away from home. But there are lessons that must be learnt from the first match against Austria.
Possession (or lack of it)
There is no point being too defensive if you cannot defend. That was the case against in March where the Boys in Green surrendered 63 per cent of possession to Austria with the consequence that the ball kept coming back at Ireland.
Austria's 4-5-1 formation and the greater level of technical ability in their squad meant that having less possession was almost a given - it nearly always is against half-decent opposition.
Trap's side rode their luck for long spells in both halves before Alaba's injury time equaliser. But more effective use of possession may have helped kill off the game in time and it is a mistake that should not be repeated in Vienna.
There is a simple maxim - if you have the ball, the opposition cannot score.
©INPHO/Donall Farmer
To remedy that there are one or two options. Firstly, Robbie Keane could drop deeper and closer to the midfield as he did to reasonable effect against Sweden in March (although it also left Ireland without a goal threat) or Wes Hoolahan can play in his favoured No 10 position.
However, one encouraging point is the fact that Austria were not as effective with the ball as they could have been, given the vast amount of possession they had.
Ireland had marginally more shots on and off target with David Forde forced into a single save.
They also won more corners and profited from on a single occasion when Jon Walters headed Ireland into a 2 - 1 lead.
Targetting left-back Christian Fuchs may be a profitable enterprise. The Austria captain has been in poor form at club level for Schalke 04 and also had a poor game in Friday night's 3 - 0 defeat to Germany.
From Ireland's point of view, Shane Long proved particularly troubling for Austria, winning the penalty that was converted by Walters and also hitting the post with a cheeky back heel.
His pace, power and direct running could be a vital asset when it comes to creating space for Robbie Keane, assuming Trap sticks with 4-4-2, and especially if he can be isolated against centre-half Emmanuel Pogatetz.
But Ireland should also be wary of Austria's pace with Andreas Wiemann, Marko Arnautovic and Alaba all quick out of the blocks.
Austria's David Alaba celebrates scoring a late goal ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy
