Adam Idah relieved to be finally off the mark

“It’s been a long time coming but the feeling is amazing,” said the Cork native.

FIRST GOAL: Adam Idah scoring his first Ireland senior goal.

Sixteen games and 900 minutes into his international career, a weight was lifted off Adam Idah when he finally scored for his country.

The Corkman’s close-range header completed a facile 3-0 win over Gibraltar on Monday at Aviva Stadium but it meant the world to him following a difficult introduction to the senior stage.

Idah was hooked at half-time of the 2-1 defeat against Greece on Friday, a loss that makes negotiating a top-two finish from a daunting Euro qualifying group a task of miraculous scale.

The Norwich City forward, who only recently recovered from a long lay-off last season, spoke of his joy at getting off the mark.

“It’s been a long time coming but the feeling is amazing,” said the ex-Corinthians Boys product, who was handed the No 9 shirt by Stephen Kenny for his debut against Bulgaria in September 2000 after they emerged together from the Under-21s.

Adam Idah celebrates after scoring Ireland's third goal of the night.

“It’s tough when you haven’t scored and played a lot of games. But I’ve spoken to people and the main thing was to stay patient, knowing the goals will come.

“My job is to score goals and that’s probably the toughest part about it, not scoring, I’ve scored tonight and off the mark and now try and keep scoring.

He said of the Ireland boss, who he'd been prolific for at Under-21 level: “I have been with Stephen since I was 18 and he’s shown great faith in me.

“I haven't scored in a lot of games so for him to keep playing me and bringing me on gives me great confidence and belief. I’m very appreciative of what he has done."

Idah (22) provided an insight into the mental challenges of leading the line for his country. “When you’re a new player in a team, it’s difficult because you don't know the boys,” he added.

“You don’t really know the staff and playing in the stadium with all these fans you do feel quite nervous. But after a few games, you get used to it and it becomes more exciting every time I go on the pitch, especially in the Aviva is a great honour. It’s very exciting and you do get more confident the more games you play."

Idah, whose Norwich City endured a mediocre season back in the Championship, believes Ireland can recover from their opening two defeats to challenge France, Netherlands and Greece for one of the two automatic qualification berths.

“Everyone saw the last time we played France that we were outstanding,” he said, looking forward to the rematch with Les Bleus on September 7.

“I know we didn't win but we showed we can put up a test against these big teams. It's up to us at the end of the day to finish that. I believe and I think everyone else believes we can go and do it. 

"The next step is to go and show what we are about.”