REPUBLIC of Ireland began their World Cup qualifying campaign with a comfortable 2-1 victory over Georgia in Mainz, Germany.
Fifa switched the match to the Bruchweg Stadium just a matter of weeks ago as a result of the current political situation in Georgia, and Giovanni Trappatoni's men duly capitalised on the fact the Eastern Europeans, who were too strong for Scotlan
d in Tbilisi last October, were deprived of home advantage.
Kevin Doyle's sixth international goal from an Aiden McGeady cross gave the Irish a 13th-minute lead, and they might have been out of sight before the Georgians briefly rallied.
The points were safe when goalkeeper Giorgi Loria spilled Glenn Whelan's 70th-minute effort into his own net. Levan Kenia pulled one back for the Georgians deep into injury time, but the Republic deservedly emerged victorious much to the satisfaction of Trappatoni.
"I must be happy because I saw some good things in our mentality," he said. "All the players worked for the result and they are happy. They (the players] were a little disappointed with the late goal. We cannot concede a goal like that, but the players were tiring."
Next up for the Irish is a tricky trip to Montenegro on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, Wales left it late to get off to a winning start against Azerbaijan, now managed by Berti Vogts, in Cardiff. Teenage substitute Sam Vokes scored his first international goal to secure a deserved 1-0 victory for a Welsh side that started with five players still eligible for the under-21s.
Before the 18-year-old Wolves player netted from close range with just seven minutes left, Wales had toiled to break down an ultra-defensive Azerbaijan side who had Brazilian-born forward Fabio Luis Ramim sent off not long after Jason Koumas had a penalty, and his follow-up volley, saved in the second half.
Wales manager John Toshack, who takes his men to Russia on Wednesday, said: "We dominated the match and heads could easily have dropped after the penalty was missed. They were bouncing and our lot were deflated.
"But we kept going, refused to let it bother us for long, and fully deserved the winner. We were easily the better team."
Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington was left angry and frustrated as his side slumped to a 2-1 defeat against Slovakia in Bratislava.
Goals from Liverpool's Martin Skrtel and Marek Hamsik in the 46th and 70th minutes put the hosts in control before a Jan Durica own goal with nine minutes left gave the visitors hope.
However despite a frantic finale the Irish failed to get the equaliser.
"It is a game we should have got something from," said Worthington. "But through ill-discipline on set plays we have paid a heavy price and lost the game. To concede two goals like we did is very disappointing."
The full article contains 484 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
