Andy the inspiration as Ireland reap reward
Reid, whose impish personality was perfectly mirrored by a bravura performance of breathtaking scope and vision, ensured Ireland accomplished this first elementary task without hysterics. Three goals scarcely reflected their superiority over a limited Cyprus.
Everything in life is relative and the visitors' shortcomings were such that a word of caution should be exercised when evaluating an ebullient Irish performance on a glorious day, filched from high summer.
The evidence suggested it is backwards Cyprus have gone since they last played here three years ago. Whether Ireland are better than they were then is a judgement call that must be delayed until they are presented with a more substantial challenge.
What is indisputable, however, is that Ireland are different. In addition to the influence of the precocious Reid, they were lifted by the searing impact of the dynamic Damien Duff and the formidable power and constructive instincts of Graham Kavanagh.
The Cardiff midfielder is a late bloomer at this level - at 30 years he was winning his 7th cap.
After three substitute appearances in 1998 and '99, he disappeared from the scene until Brian Kerr resurrected his career against Canada 12 months ago. There was much to admire in his play against Cyprus, for he provided a strong and forceful barrier in front of an Irish defence that surrendered only two scoring chances to Cyprus.
More influential than that was the degree of imagination he brought to his distribution.
He utilised the space he was afforded to pick out his passes with calm deliberation and all of Ireland's attacking players benefited from the accuracy and pace of his delivery.
His test will be to repeat that performance in a quicker game.
The same was true of Reid, whose skill on the ball and dribbling ability were augmented by his range of passing. The presence of two playmakers of the ability of Reid and Kavanagh in the team meant Ireland were handsomely served in this vital respect on a day when there was a delightful raffish element to Ireland's football.
Then there was Duff. His ability to step past opponents marked him, once again, as a special talent. His persistence, pace and penetration were such that opponents were regularly left despairingly in his wake.
The entire mix of skill and invention brought to the occasion by Reid, Kavanagh and Duff was intoxicating. Their diverse talents ensured Cyprus were under pressure right across their defensive line. To say Ireland's three-goals harvest represented only a small fraction of their scoring chances is to stress the obvious.
Happily, one of those gave Robbie Keane the goal he needed to bring his career total to 21 and placed him alongside Niall Quinn as Ireland's record goalscorer. Keane's strike came from a penalty in the 56th minute after Duff had his ankles clipped while sashaying past three Cypriot defenders.
The goal should be a huge encouragement to Keane, making a comeback after missing early season matches because of injury. He lacked his usual sharpness but, after dedicating his goal to the memory of his late father, also Robbie, more can be expected from him in Switzerland.
Clinton Morrison also received a boost he needed when he scored in the 33rd minute. This was Morrison's tenth appearance for Ireland since he last scored. While he did not play 90 minutes in all of those matches, his lack of return on the scoreboard represented an unwelcome drought for the enthusiastic striker.
Sandwiched between these goals was a goal that captured brilliantly the genius of Reid. He called for a square pass from Kavanagh in the 38th minute on the right wing, turned the ball on to his left-foot and beat goalkeeper Panayiotou from 25 yards with a shot of exquisite power and accuracy.
Brian Kerr suggested he had not been surprised at such an audacious strike - "The only time in my life that I saw a player score from a tip-off was when Andy scored a winner for us against England in Iceland in an under-age tournament for the Nordic Cup.
"I had never seen anything like it ... it was 2-2 against England and Andy took the tip-off. He said to Robert Doyle, play it there and I'll have a go at it and he scored direct from the tip-off."
It goes without saying that Kerr will look for improvement in several areas when Ireland play a critical game against Switzerland in Basle on Wednesday.
More about that later ... it is enough for now to recall the apt Irish phrase: "Tosach maith, leath na hoibre."
: Given; Carr (Finnan 70), O'Brien, Cunningham, O'Shea (Maybury 83); Reid, Kavanagh, Kilbane, Duff; Morrison (Lee 80), Robbie Keane.
: Panayiotou; Okkarides, Kakoyianis, Lambrou; Charalambidis (Michail 76), Theodotou, Satsias, Makridis, Okkas (Krassas 77), Charalambous (Ilia 64); Konstantinou.
: L. Paniashvili (Georgia).
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