Five-star Irish give King dream start

ANTHONY STOKES was on fire as he gave Noel King a debut to remember as new Republic of Ireland under-21 boss.

The Hibernian striker bagged two and had a hand in all three of the other goals in a 5-0 rout as he marked his first U21 appearance since March 2008 with a stunning display.

After replacing Don Givens — who opted not to pick Stokes after a number of disagreements — as U21 boss, King could have hardly asked for better than this first competitive win since November 2007.