Hoolahan happy to have given Trap a headache

It was smiles all round amongst the Irish players after they racked up a morale-boosting victory over Poland last night.

Six weeks ahead of the pivotal pair of World Cup ties against Sweden and Austria, goals by two prospective starters for the Stockholm showdown secured Ireland their first home win since last May.

Wes Hoolahan followed the lead of Ciaran Clark by grabbing his first international goal, with the Norwich City playmaker pleased with his showing as a second-half substitute.

“It’s a brilliant feeling because I’ve waited a few years for that goal,” said Hoolahan, who won the first of his three caps back in 2008.

“The instructions going on were to play off Conor [Sammon] up front in the middle and get as much of the ball as I could. It was same role I normally play for Norwich.

“Jeff Hendrick played a great ball across to me for the goal, I took it on my chest first time and thankfully it went into the far corner.”

Hoolahan’s fine form at club level this term, followed by this cameo, has thrust him firmly into contention for the Sweden game and he’s aiming to give Giovanni Trapattoni a selection dilemma in the coming weeks.

“If I keep doing what I’m doing, you never know,” he replied when asked about his chances of lining out in the Friends Arena on March 22.

“We’ve a big squad here of talented players and the competition is there, so we’ll have to wait and see.

“This game was better for me than the last match against Greece because we got the victory we wanted ahead of the big games next month.”

Glenn Whelan echoed Hoolahan’s thoughts on the perfect timing of the victory, especially given the paucity of positives since the Euros last summer.

“We know performances haven’t been great of late but we haven’t been getting results either,” said the midfield stalwart. “Obviously with the new faces coming in, it was a little bit of pressure on them. It was a new start and we wanted to get the right result and get people back onside.”

As well as three debutants, all from Derby County, the evening provided a platform for Greg Cunningham to launch his international comeback.

Almost three years had elapsed since the Galway man won his last senior caps, leaving the left-back chuffed with his contribution over the 90 minutes.

“This has given me great confidence because it’s my first cap in a few years,” he said.

“It’s a step up from everything; the quality and speed of the game. I’m delighted to play for my country and be back in the frame.”

“We hadn’t played together as a unit and as the game went on we grew in stature and were more solid the whole game. We got more composed as the game progressed.

“We started to dominate there in the second half. I thought I did all right so now it’s back to Bristol City and see how things go.

“I’m delighted with how it went overall. It’s good to get a clean sheet and we’ll move on.

“I’m not really thinking about the Sweden game at the moment but hopefully now be involved in the qualifiers.”