Ireland(Under 21s) - 2 Albania(Under 21's) - 1:European Under-21 Championships: The Republic of Ireland picked up their first win of the European Under-21 Championships campaign as they beat Albania 2-1 at Dalymount Park, Dublin.

Don Givens' side carried on from Mondayu's 2-2 draw with Germany in Cork as they totally dominated last night's encounter.

Their goals came from Graham Barrett of Coventry City and Cork City's John O'Flynn, with Bledar Mansaru only grabbing a late consolation when the Irish side went asleep in the final minutes.

The forced move of the fixture from Flancare Park, Longford, to Dublin - and the fact that two domestic league games were taking place in the city at the same time - had an obvious affect on the attendance with the crowd of only 2,000 turning up.

Givens opted to name the same side as which drew with Germany on Monday in Cork for the game as Ireland looked to get revenge after losing 1-0 to Albania in Tirana.

In the early stages the crowd was subdued as the game took time to spark into life, but when it eventually did, it was Ireland who looked the better side.

Albania goalkeeper Erjon Dine was the first to be called into action in the eighth minute when he tipped over an Andy Reid shot from inside the area after a Stephen Kelly cross found the Forest man unmarked.

Sunderland playmaker Sean Thornton saw his long range shot tipped over the bar by Dine after a good move involving Colin Cryan and John O'Flynn.

Albania were coming more into the game with their midfield of Ervin Bulko, Amarildo Belisha and Ansi Agolli seeing a lot of the ball, but they failed to seriously threaten Ireland's back line with a Igli Allmuca free-kick that flew past Graham Stack's upright the closest they got to scoring.

Ireland, on the other hand, continued to stretch the Albania back line with Thornton going close once more with a header from Kelly's cross.

But just as it looked as if looked as if the game would be scoreless at half time, Barrett grabbed the opening goal.

Once more, it was a Kelly cross which caused all the problems when his centre found O'Flynn, whose first-time effort was blocked by Admir Teli only for Barrett to hammer home the rebound past the wrong-footed Dine.

With a goal on the score sheet, Ireland started the second half confidently with Dine doing well to hold on to a Liam Miller free-kick, and on 53 minutes, they deservedly went 2-0 with a wonderful team goal finished by O'Flynn.

It started in Ireland's half as John Thompson played a beautiful 50-yard pass to Reid on the left touchline. Reid beat his marker and although he lost control of the ball, it ran to Thornton whose mi-hit shot ran to O'Flynn to prod home.

There was a hint of offside about the goal with Barrett also in close attendance to O'Flynn but the goal stood to give Ireland some breathing space.

O'Flynn had an opportunity to make it 3-0 when a Thomas Butler run created the space for the striker but he blasted over from a tight angle.

Ireland brought on Keith Gilroy for his debut and striker Stephen Elliott for his second cap in the closing minutes and the pair combined to create the best opportunity of the final few minutes with Elliott shooting wide from a tight angle, as Ireland turned on the cruise control for the final minutes.

And they were punished for the slackness in last minute when Mansaru scored a goal out of nothing when shooting from the edge of the area.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Stack (Arsenal); Kelly (Tottenham Hotspur), Cryan (Sheffield United), Thompson (Nottingham Forest), Capper (Sunderland), Butler (Sunderland), Miller (Celtic), Thornton (Sunderland), Reid (Nottingham Forest), Barrett (Coventry City), O'Flynn (Cork City). Subs: K Gilroy, S Elliott.