Ireland in pole position

As they head for Tehran this morning, there will be disappointment amongst the Irish party that qualification for next summer's finals remains something of a work in progress. Iran's hopes of making it to the World Cup finals might well have been extinguished entirely over the weekend. The consolation is that the two-goal lead earned by Mick McCarthy's side at Lansdowne Road on Saturday ensures that the Ireland squad travels in a much stronger position than was achieved at this stage of either of the Republic's two previous attempts to reach a major finals via a two-legged play-off.

That it might have been better but could have been worse was certainly the message from both manager and players after the game. The hope is that they have left Miroslav Blazevic's side with too much to do at the Azadi stadium but, as the heart-stopping couple of minutes early in the second half when Ali Karimi twice forced Shay Given into making fine saves amply demonstrated, there is still a good deal of reason for caution ahead of Thursday afternoon's (2.0 p.m. kick-off) return leg.

The reality is that McCarthy's side should progress but what is equally clear is that they could well do with producing a much more fluent and composed performance than the one the 35,000-strong crowd was treated to for three-quarters of Saturday's encounter.

For the entirety of the first half, and the latter part of the second, his players struggled to find any sort of rhythm against a side that maintained their defensive composure throughout but rarely posed much of a threat at the other end.

During those first 45 minutes almost every element of the Irish attack failed to click, with Matt Holland, Niall Quinn and Kevin Kilbane, in particular, all losing their respective tussles. Kilbane came off a poor second best to Mehdi Mahdivikia, the strong and extremely capable-looking Iranian wing-back, but the Sunderland player subsequently proved just how central he can be to making his side tick by making a pivotal contribution to Ireland's best spell, the 25 minutes or so immediately after the break.

The improvement may well have been prompted, at least in part, by Ireland's first goal, an Ian Harte penalty in the dying seconds of the opening period that followed Rahman Rezaei's mistimed tackle on Jason McAteer.

The defender's error was immensely fortuitous for the Irish. Holland's under-hit pass to McAteer had obliged the midfielder to come short in order to pick up possession and his subsequent move into the box was at a poor angle and appeared to pose relatively little threat.

Not that many of the Irish attacks posed much more. It is hard to remember a half at Lansdowne Road where the home side had more of the ball and the visiting goalkeeper less to do.

Chief amongst the problems was the ease with which Iran's back three, supplemented at the slightest sign of danger by most of their five-man midfield, dealt with Quinn's aerial assault. The striker was hardly helped by the fact that most of the crosses aimed at him were so poor that he rarely got to attack a ball while facing the goal. But it probably made little difference as Rezai, Yahya Golmohammadi and Mohammad Peyrovani all comfortably held their own around the Dubliner.

Later, it transpired that, under sustained pressure from the defenders, the 35-year-old's back had started to cause him problems early in the game and McCarthy said subsequently that it was the potential threat of Iran's own big men that had prompted to leave Quinn on the field for only his second full game of the campaign.

It looked a mistake, though, when early after the break Kilbane and McAteer started to really gain the upper hand on the flanks and a little more agility looked to be what was required around the six yard box.

Briefly, after Robbie Keane had made it 2-0 with a powerful 10-yard drive through a crowded box, it seemed as though the Irish might go on to make Thursday's game all but academic.

McAteer and Kilbane, in particular, had chances to kill the game off before Karimi's two quick counter attacks and Given's excellent saves. Straight from the second of these, though, the Irish broke downfield in one of the most flowing moves of the game. Kilbane's cross was well judged and McAteer should have scored but, as both the goalkeeper and a defender made desperate attempts to prevent the ball reaching the Irishman, his concentration seemed to go and his attempt to turn the ball back into an empty net ended up being weak and very poorly directed.

The home side continued to dominate for another 10 minutes after which, having failed to add to their lead, their momentum disappeared once again. McAteer, a huge creative influence from the right, simply ran out of steam while Roy Keane, an immensely steadying influence in the centre, also faded.

Steve Staunton too was struggling with injury and was replaced by Kenny Cunningham when Gary Breen had looked to be the weaker link in the Irish defence. The Irish, though, were perhaps a little fortunate that their opponents offered little by way of an attacking threat during those spells when they had lost their way. Karimi and his impressive dribbling skills did prove a handful but Ali Daei certainly contributed little to his side's cause while Karim Bagheri squandered a fine opportunity to transform the complexion of Thursday's task when he fired wide of Given post from inside the box during the dying minutes.

The relief on the Irish bench as well as around the packed stadium was obvious, for Iran's failure to score clearly puts them under a good deal of pressure ahead of the second leg. But even with a two-goal lead most of the departing spectators were looking forward to the Tehran tie more in hope than confidence, with the painful memories of Brussels and Bursa in their minds.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Given (Newcastle United); Finnan (Fulham), Breen (Coventry City), Staunton (Aston Villa), Harte (Leeds United); McAteer (Sunderland), Roy Keane (Manchester United), Holland (Ipswich Town), Kilbane (Sunderland); Quinn (Sunderland), Robbie Keane (Leeds United). Subs: Cunningham (Wimbledon) for Staunton (76 mins), Kelly (Leeds United) for McAteer (84 mins).

IRAN: Mirzapour (Foolad); Peyrovani (Pirouzi), Golmohammadi (Foolad), Rezaei (Perugia); Mahdivikia (SV Hamburg, Ger), Kavianpour (Pirouzi), Bagheri (Unattached), Minavand (Sturm Graz, Aut), Vahediniikbahkt (Esteghlal); Daei (Hertha Berlin, Ger), Karimi (Al Ahli, UAE). Sub: Khaziravi (Esteghlal) for Vahedinikbahkt (half-time).

Referee: Antonio Pereira da Silva (Brazil).