Republic rediscover their sparkle

Republic of Ireland - 2 Georgia - 0 With the spluttering start of last year's opening games feeling like a terrible but fast-fading dream, Ireland finally rediscovered their stride at Lansdowne Road last night.

Their most convincing competitive win since the defeat of Saudi Arabia, a year to the day ago in Yokohama, moved them clear of Russia in second place of a qualification table that looks more promising with each passing round of games.

Brian Kerr's men were easily worth the two-goal margin that Gary Doherty and Robbie Keane gave them but what was most encouraging on the night was not so much the win as the way in which a team that had looked to have lost its way so badly eight months ago when going down to Switzerland rediscovered some of its sparkle. Of course, there will be tougher teams than a solid but largely uninspired Georgia to face in the autumn but, in the sort of form shown here, the Republic look to have good cause to approach those games with renewed confidence.

If Saturday's team selection had failed to provide Ireland's attack with the sort of teeth it required against a determined and well organised Albanian defence, Kerr's decisions last night to bring in Doherty, revert to a four-man midfield and give Colin Healy his first start in the Irish midfield since that defeat by Switzerland, all promised to pay dividends from early on.

Doherty's impact was almost immediate, with the Spurs player getting the better of his marker, Milan's Kakha Kaladze, in the 12th minute when his knockdown of Robbie Keane's cross from the left set John O'Shea up for a header that the left back sent just the wrong side of the left-hand post.

Behind the front two, though, it was the reintroduction of men in wide midfield positions that, of all the changes from the weekend, was generating the greatest return for the Irish. Kilbane, for a start, looked far more comfortable back in his traditional role out on the left, where he had his best game in a green jersey for quite some time. On the other side of the field Lee Carsley, despite a tendency to wander inside, also added something, not least because of the additional option he presented to those in the centre of the field.

There, Matt Holland looked to have stepped up a gear from Saturday, the Ipswich midfielder working hard to make space in which to pick up possession and then push the ball wide. Good as he was, however, Healy, playing competitive football for the first time since February, overshadowed him for much of the time he was involved. Through the opening half, in particular, the soon-to-be ex-Celtic midfielder shone, winning a succession of important challenges, a couple of which kick-started moves that might well have resulted in goals.

Almost every one of those, no matter who started it, had Keane at its heart. The 22-year-old striker seemed determined at times to occupy both his own role up front and the one behind the strikers vacated since Saturday by the injured Damien Duff. Once again Keane's contribution, even before his 16th goal in 44 appearances, was outstanding even if he sometimes showed his characteristic desire to do a little too much when on the ball.

Through the opening half an hour it seemed, however, that the young Dubliner simply couldn't do enough. Within minutes of the start his darting run into the box after Kilbane and O'Shea's build-up ended with a half-hearted penalty claim and on the quarter hour he was involved at both ends of a wonderful move forward that culminated in Steve Carr looking to curl the ball low to him at the far post only for Zurab Khizanishvili to make a vital interception.

Carr chipped into the goal-scoring efforts with a long-range shot that flew over and Kilbane fluffed a much better chance from close range but always during that first third of the game there was the sense that the breakthrough would come.

It did, but only after the home side's grip on things had loosened a little.

Having weathered a bit of a storm defensively the Georgians finally suggested that they might pose a threat themselves late in the half when, driven on from midfield by the impressive looking Malkhaz Asatiani, they managed a quick succession of chances, the best of which was produced by the Lokomotiv Moscow man himself - he carried the ball some 40 yards as team-mates made runs on either side of him and Irish players backed off before driving the ball just inches over.

After steadying themselves, however, the Irish regained the upper hand and two minutes from half-time Doherty struck when he beat Kaladze to Kilbane's floated free from the left to head the ball low to the left of Georgi Lomaia, who got a touch but couldn't keep the ball out.

After Asiatani had again gone close, this time drifting across three Irish defenders before unleashing a fierce but fractionally high shot, Keane made it two. Carr started the move forward before Carsley hooked the ball over the defence and into the striker's path. After that it seemed only a matter of which side Keane would put it and Lomaia had no chance when the Irishman slipped the ball low to the goalkeeper's right.

There was the occasional scare in the time that remained but the Republic's back four coped well and never was the outcome seriously in doubt again. Keane, indeed, came close to adding a third goal when Gary Breen headed down John O'Shea's long diagonal free behind his team-mate who fired the ball off the crossbar on the turn.

By the time Kerr made his first change of the night, Mark Kinsella for Healy with four minutes remaining, the contest was already winding down and the Georgians looked reconciled to their defeat.

Three minutes later the Ireland manager felt comfortable enough to give Alan Lee his first competitive cap, the sort of fringe benefit that comes with a return to form. It's a night both men will remember fondly even if the result from Geneva, announced before the end to the obvious anger of Kerr, didn't quite make it one for celebration.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Given (Newcastle United); Carr (Tottenham Hotspur), Breen (West Ham), Cunningham (Birmingham City), O'Shea (Manchester United); Carsley (Everton), Holland (Ipswich Town), Healy (Celtic), Kilbane (Sunderland); Doherty (Tottenham Hotspur), Keane (Tottenham Hotspur). Subs: Kinsella (Aston Villa) for Healy (86 mins), Lee (Rotherham United) for Doherty (89 mins).

GEORGIA: Lomaia; Khizanishvili, Khizaneishili, Kaladze; Burduli, Didava, Rekhviashvili, Amisulashvili; Asatiani; Arveladze, Demetradze. Subs: Daraselia for Demetradze (60 mins), Aleksadze for Didava (77 mins).

Referee: E Iturralde Gonzalez (Spain).