GROUP EIGHT Georgia 1 Cyprus 1: GEORGIA AND Cyprus both secured their first Group Eight points in World Cup 2010 qualifying after drawing 1-1 at the Boris Paichadze Stadium in Tbilisi on Saturday.
It was Georgia's first game on home soil since the outbreak of hostilities with neighbouring Russia in August which led to their previous home qualifier against the Republic of Ireland being played in the neutral German venue of Mainz last month.
Cyprus, who come to Croke Park for their next qualifier on Wednesday night, took the lead through Michael Konstantinou's strike on 66 minutes and might even have been 2-0 up had Konstantinou converted a penalty shortly after half-time.
Cyprus were made to pay for that wastefulness when, on 73 minutes, Levan Kobiashvili equalised for the hosts.
The visitors started brightly and Konstantinou had a chance to break the deadlock on six minutes after a mistake by Georgia defender Zurab Khizanishvili.
However, home goalkeeper Giorgi Lomaia was quickly off his line to make a save.
Efstathios Aloneftis was proving a threat for Cyprus from the left wing. He remained a menace into the second half and was brought down by Khizanishvili for Cyprus's penalty.
Once again, though, Lomaia was equal to Konstantinou's effort. Angelos Anastadiadis's men finally took the lead when the same player converted an Aloneftis cross.
Georgia equalised with 17 minutes to go when Levan Kobiashvili netted following a scramble in the penalty box. The Georgians are now bottom of the group with one point from three games, one place below Cyprus who have one point from two matches but possess a better goal difference.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)