Job done and sitting pretty

BRAND new Lansdowne Road , same old scoreline. Ten years ago, Ireland beat Andorra 3-1 at the old ground, a distinct case of winning ugly on the road to glorious qualification for Japan and Korea . We can only hope last night’s tepid repeat at the Aviva points the way to a similar route to Poland and Ukraine.

Ireland ran out comfortable if hardly convincing winners to sit on top of the table after a game which featured the shock to the home system of a goal out of nothing by the part-timers. And what a goal it was, albeit one rivalled by a sensational strike from Kevin Doyle – two welcome explosions of drama on a night which, for long periods, struggled to keep the attention of a crowd of just over 40,000.

The dominant themes of the game were established right from the first whistle: pinball in the Andorran box, Robbie Keane eking out a couple of half-chances and a flying Aiden McGeady terrifying his double-markers every time he got on the ball. The only surprise was that it took 14 minutes for the thick blue line to crack and, this being Ireland , not surprisingly it came from a set-piece. Liam Lawrence supplied the inswinging corner from the left and there was the ageless Kevin Kilbane rising at the near post to reprise his opener for Ireland against the same opposition at Lansdowne Road all of a decade ago, although on that occasion, remarkably, the Irish had to play catch-up before seeing off the minnows.