A seismic shift for an Ireland team that had become all too familiar with defeat

A second victory over Bulgaria marked a fourth win from sixth games, three of them eked out from losing positions.

Ireland's Evan Ferguson and Nathan Collins celebrate the final whistle. Pic: James Crombie/Inpho

Three days on from Plovdiv and the narrative had changed. There was no debate as to the respective merits of staying in League B or dropping down to League C in the hours before kick-off at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday evening.

The 2-1 win in Eastern Europe on Thursday had rendered all that chin-scratching moot.