Euro 2004 under-21 qualifying Group 10 / Republic of Ireland 2 Russia 0: The Republic of Ireland rose to the challenge set by manager Don Givens to "go out in style" as they scored an impressive win over Russia at Waterford RSC.
Givens will bring in a fresh crop of players from the under-20 squad for the final qualifying match in Switzerland next month.
After the game Givens hailed the victory as one of the highlights of his time in charge of the underage team.
"It's nice to end the home part of the campaign on a very positive note and when you beat Russia it is always good," he said. "That ranks up there with the best of them. We showed a lot of composure and did very well, it was a very good performance."
Liam Miller, Andy Reid and Thomas Butler all stood out, but Coventry striker Graham Barrett stole the headlines by grabbing the first goal and playing a key role in the second.
After an impressive first half, Ireland took the lead after 65 minutes with the move of the match, and showed quick thinking to double the lead after 81 minutes. The result avenged the 2-0 defeat in Moscow a year ago and also extended the team's unbeaten run to five matches.
Ireland started brightly and had a great chance to take the lead in only the fourth minute but Celtic's Miller was denied by the woodwork.
Russia hit back and after eight minutes playmaker Marat Izmailov found space on the right before squaring the ball for Roman Adamov in the box, but he drilled his rising shot just wide.
From the restart Ireland worked the ball down their left to Andy Reid and his cross was chested down nicely on the edge of the box by Butler. This time the ball sat up nicely for Miller but he drove a low shot just wide.
The crowd of about 4,000 fans saw Ireland turn on the style as they showed superb movement in taking the lead. Kevin O'Connor started the move by feeding Butler and he made a darting run through the middle before switching the ball back out to John O'Flynn who made an overlapping run.
O'Flynn drove in a first time cross and Barrett was unmarked to steer the ball home and celebrate his 25th cap in style.
The lead was doubled after 81 minutes when Ireland took a quick free-kick. Miller fed Butler on the right and his low cross was prodded goalwards by Barrett only for the goalkeeper to save. Anton Rogotchi inadvertently bundled the ball home for an own goal.
"I felt we deserved to win," said Givens, "although we did survive a rocky spell at the start of the second half. Some of the individual performances were very good."
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Connor, Kelly, Kohlmann, Cryan, Thompson, Miller, Butler, Barrett, O'Flynn (Elliott 89), O'Connor (Doyle 75), Reid. Subs Not Used: Byrne, Capper, Daly, Deeney, Brennan. Booked: Kelly. Goals: Barrett 65, Rogotchi 82 og.
RUSSIA: Akinfeev, Kuzmin, Kolodin, Alexei Berezoutski (Rogotchi 45), Vassili Berezoutski, Izmailov, Denisson, Kusov, Eviskov (Bober 26), Arshavin, Adamov (Pimenov 63). Subs Not Used: Gabulov, Gogniev, Vinogradov. Booked: Rogotchi.
Referee: Pavel Balaj (Romania)
