What was a position of strength going into the business end is now one of concern for Ireland, whose automatic qualification hopes suffered a serious blow.
Victory in Tbilisi against their bogey team Georgia would have unlocked all sorts of appealing possibilities with a ticket to the finals dangling within touching distance.
Instead, Mick McCarthy’s charges were lured into the same trap that snared Denmark here last month and while they are not out of it, they suddenly they have it all to do.
And traipsing off utterly dejected on the whistle, the players knew it.
But Ireland cannot quibble as their pedestrian performance left a lot to be desired and at times this team played like strangers thrown together before kick-off.
By some distance, it was the worst performance of this McCarthy reign. The sort of performance that Martin O’Neill was caned for in his final year in charge.
It is true that Darren Randolph didn’t have a save to make, but Ireland were pulled from pillar to post in all departments and Georgia would have been out of sight had they shown a sliver of confidence around the box.
Rishing Brighton star Aaron Connolly was thrown into the mix late on and was left wondering what might have been with two scoring opportunities that went abegging and so too Shane Duffy with a header at the death that was saved.
That was just Ireland’s second shot on target - the story of their game in a nutshell.
In Tbilisi two years ago, Ireland got off to a flyer when Duffy headed home after just four minutes. But Ireland folded thereafter and slumped to a grim 1-1 draw in which they were outplayed and outclassed.
This followed a similar script and another centre-back, John Egan was close to gifting Ireland a perfect start but his powerful downward header from Conor Hourihane’s free-kick delivery crashed off the post with goalkeeper Giorgi Loria stranded.
But it was not a sign of things to come as Georgia quickly got a foothold in the game. They dominated possession until the break and Ireland were just thankful that their shooting lack composure and precision.
Even before Egan’s effort Valeri Qazaishvilli wriggled free of Seamus Colman and ought to have done better but his shot after 27 seconds went out for a throw. Dismal finishing would haunt the hosts, but the warning signs were there from early.
Jano Ananidze pulled a shot across goal after Giorgi Kbvilitaia held off the fit-again Duffy while Glenn Whelan turned his back just in time to block a vicious drive from Ananidze soon after.
The ease at which Georgia sprayed the ball around the pitch was alarming for Ireland, although not unexpected considering the manner in which they frustrated Denmark here last month when holding them to a 0-0 draw.
They targeted makeshift left-back Matt Doherty time and again but before the break, Ireland managed to take the sting out of the Georgian play with Jeff Hendrick’s willingness to chase down even lost causes a contributing factor.
And the Burnley man may well have put Ireland ahead had Wolves ace Doherty not carried the ball out over the endline after a sublime run that left four Georgians in a spin.
Lone striker James Collins cut a frustrated figure leading the line on his competitive debut. The big Luton Town man was starved of service although his physicality was an issue for defenders who didn’t know how to handle him. They had the same issue with Connolly, but for different reasons.
Trouble was, Ireland lacked the invention and imagination to work the ball forward and continued to spend a great deal of time on the back foot with Georgia raiding down the right with Doherty and McClean tripping over one another.
Alan Browne injected some life off the bench in the closing 16 minutes, replacing the ineffective Robinson and Brighton whizzkid Connolly followed soon after, fresh from his heroics against Tottenham a week ago.
Twice he could have won it late on, and so too Duffy with the final act of a dour game when heading Hendrick’s corner at the keeper.
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