Pride and hope restored now Vera Pauw's Ireland must deliver

Republic of Ireland manager Vera Pauw celebrates following the win over Australia. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Pride rather than points was the dividend from Tuesday’s win over Australia but results in next month’s pair of qualifiers will go a long way to deciding Ireland’s World Cup fate.

While the opening double-header against Sweden on October 21 and Finland five days later won’t make or break their qualification prospects, history shows points extracted from the two nations seeded above are the proven method of splitting them in the final standings.