Ireland's the victor in every sense

Republic of Ireland (1) 1 Wales (0) 0

There was a neat resonance to the fact that the first football match to be staged at Croke Park should be won for Ireland by a 20-year-old of the same name. Manchester City's Stephen Ireland provided a rare moment of inspiration in a dour tussle between teams seeking respectability in their group campaigns.

His goal six minutes from the break briefly lifted the Republic to 10 points and joint top of the group before Germany and the Czech Republic squared up later in the day.

It was a strange situation for Republic manager Steve Staunton to find himself in considering how much pressure he has been under so early in his stewardship.

His detractors won't overlook the reality that his team owed their lofty station in large part to back-to-back wins over San Marino.

They will also point to the fact that last month's narrow away victory was secured only in the 95th minute. Ireland dug his manager out of a hole on that occasion too.

They laboured to put a toothless Welsh team in their place even though Reading's Kevin Doyle rattled a post late on in the match.

For the visitors, qualification is no longer even a remote dream. While they enjoyed the majority of possession in the second half there was very little end product and they resorted to banking their attacking hopes on central defender James Collins for the final 20 minutes.

Wales have enjoyed their visits to Dublin in the past, winning on four out of those six outings. But none of those games had been in Croke Park, the home of Gaelic sports which was opening its doors to association football for the first time while Lansdowne Road is undergoing redevelopment.

John Toshack's team had been prepared for a special reception and it was certainly one of those to raise the hairs on the back of the neck as a crowd of 72,539 gave full vent to their emotions. It was a wonderful setting with the gods affording the occasion the backdrop of a bright blue sky.

The Irish knew they could not afford to allow an increasingly sceptical support to become restless. They had to get on the front foot quickly and Damien Duff was soon stretching his legs with a burst onto Robbie Keane's pass down the left.

Duff, handed a roving mission, then popped up on the right, but nothing came from it and the vast gathering were soon hushed.

Wales then enjoyed a bout of possession and were unlucky to find Craig Bellamy's first surge forward aborted by the linesman's flag.

A mistake by Simon Davies shook Wales out of their comfort zone, handing possession straight back to Keane following an ineffective corner routine. But the Tottenham forward's right-foot shot trundled wide.

Encouraged by another loose pass, the Irish perked up and Ireland's lofted pass sent Keane running beyond the defence, albeit from a wide position. His shot, taken with his left this time, was even more off target.

The wind was creating problems for defenders and, when Richard Dunne stumbled in possession, Bellamy went haring away. But in turning past Paul McShane, he overran the ball slightly, enabling his former Newcastle team-mate Shay Given to block.

Another Welsh mistake led to another opening for their hosts. Sam Ricketts gifted the ball to Keane in acres of space and Duff made a dynamic run to receive the forward pass before allowing Danny Coyne to save with his feet.

However, Irish joy was about to erupt. In their next attack, Keane steered a delicious pass into the path of the onrushing Ireland.

The midfielder skipped round the hesitant Coyne and retained his balance to guide the ball home from a difficult angle, his third goal in only four international appearances.

Wales took off Joe Ledley at the break with Carl Fletcher coming on. They also needed to find a way to get Bellamy into the game more and free the shackles from Ryan Giggs.

However, the home team pegged them back again, Lee Carsley's shot taking two deflections on its way to Coyne.

Gareth Bale at last showed some of the qualities that have lavished him with a soaring reputation, floating two fine crosses into the area which went to waste.

Carl Robinson then planted a header straight at Given and, apart from a Giggs free-kick in the dying stages, the Republic's goalkeeper was rarely forced to make a serious save.