Republic of Ireland 2 Georgia 0
Goals from Tottenham duo Gary Doherty and Robbie Keane gave Ireland a 2-0 win over Georgia at Lansdowne Road tonight, boosting their hopes of qualifying for the 2004 European Championship from Group 10.
Makeshift striker Doherty opened the scoring just before half time and Keane, whose lively running troubled the Georgian defence all night, doubled the lead in the 59th minute.
Defeats by Russia and Switzerland in their opening group games had left Brian Kerr's men off the pace, but the win over Georgia following Saturday's 2-1 home victory over Albania leaves them in second place behind the Swiss.
Ireland began the game with three changes to the team which scraped home on Saturday. With Damien Duff failing to recover from the knee injury he picked up at the weekend, Lee Carsley started on the right flank. Colin Healy was preferred to Mark Kinsella in midfield, with Doherty replacing David Connolly alongside Keane in attack.
The home team made the running in the opening stages. John O'Shea was close with a header after 11 minutes, and the Tottenham combination of Stephen Carr and Doherty almost fashioned an opening on the quarter hour.
Georgia, missing four regular players, were content to sit back and defend in numbers. It was not until the 33rd minute that the visitors had a clear shot on goal, with Alexander Rekhviashvili sending a long range effort over the crossbar.
Seconds later Malkhaz Asatiani created a more dangerous opening, but again the shot was too high to force a save from Shay Given in the Irish goal.
Frustration was building among the capacity crowd before Doherty broke the deadlock, stealing in at the far post two minutes before the break to head home Kevin Kilbane's free kick cross.
Georgia almost equalised straight away, with Given grateful to see fullback Stephen Carr clear a goalbound volley from Shota Arveladze on the line, and the home side reached halftime a goal to the good.
Georgia began the second period with more attacking intent, a sustained spell of pressure in the opening five minutes ending with Alexander Amisulashvili heading over the bar.
Matt Holland then had a long shot saved, while at the other end Asatiani, the visitors' best attacker, created space for himself and cracked a sharp shot just past Given's left hand post.
But with nearly an hour gone Keane doubled the home side's advantage, latching on to a flick from Carsley before beating Georgian goalkeeper George Lomaia with a low shot.
Keane almost made it three in the 75th minute, thundering a shot against the crossbar, and Asatiani went close in the closing stages.