A CASCADE of goals at Lansdowne Road last evening, three of them in the name of David Connolly, ended the drought which had threatened the Republic of Ireland's World Cup challenge.

The immediate effect is to lift them back into second place, at least temporarily, in the Group Eight table and give Mick McCarthy some added muscle when he meets FAI officials within the next week with a view to having his contract extended.

Connolly's hat trick was the first since John Aldridge put Latvia on the rack in another World Cup game four years ago and, incredibly, might have been followed by another by Tony Cascarino in the last half hour.

After replacing Ray Houghton early in the second hall, Cascarino delivered two precise headers to the back of Liechtenstein's net and was denied a third only by a hair's breadth as another glancing header caught the inside of a post before bouncing into the arms of goal keeper Martin Heeb.

McCarthy was to confess later that he gave serious thought to the option of replacing Connolly with Cascarino before the chunky Watford forward broke the deadlock and the resolve of the visiting defence, with the opening goal in the 29th minute.

Of such, is football folklore made but from a situation which the Irish had scored only twice in their last four games, the dam was suddenly open and Connolly, making only his sixth international appearance, seized the chance to put his name in the record books.

By the time that their defence had been undone for a fifth time in the 82nd minute, the part timers of Liechtenstein were little more than a rabble, ripe for destruction and lacking the semblance of a leader.

Yet, for 29 minutes they defended with the same brand of luck and determination which in Eschen two years ago defied Ireland for 90 unforgettable minutes.

Had Heeb managed to go on defending his line successfully until half time, it might have been a vastly different story but thanks to Connolly's first goal, the product of a fine cross by Steve Staunton and the benevolence of Roy Keane, all the threat had been drained from the game by the time they repaired to the dressing rooms at the interval.

At that point, the visitors were three adrift and headed unmistakably, for a beating of some significance. Suddenly the heroics of Eschen were a long way removed for manager Alfred Riedl and his players and the proof was everywhere in evidence in the next 45 minutes which may, at times, have seemed like an eternity for them.

Appraisal of this Irish performance has to be made against Liechtenstein's limitations; and yet it couldn't disguise the merit of another exciting display by Connolly - who, building on the promise of Romania, looked sharp and gifted.

Cascarino, too, could reflect with satisfaction on his contribution after being left out of the starting lineup; by McCarthy to accommodate a fifth midfield player. In the end, the manager's judgment was proved right and a formation which on paper appeared conservative, flowered into a potent attacking force.

Gary Kelly and Mark Kennedy, the two wide players in midfield, both played well but, essentially, it was the experience of Roy Keane, Andy Townsend and Ray Houghton, which led the successful assault.

At the back, the weight of the Liechtenstein pressure was never sufficient to tax Kenny Cunningham and Ian Harte but on those occasions when they were required to win the ball in the air they did so. And after the lessons of the last few games, that was a source of comfort for McCarthy.

The only flaw in an otherwise fine success was the booking of three Irish players, Mark Kennedy, Jeff Kenna and Gary Kelly, who misses the next game after being shown a yellow card in Romania.

Those with long memories saw in Liechtenstein's remarkable double escape in the eighth minute, a portent of another marathon in frustration to equal that in Eschen two years ago. First Connolly got in Cunningham's way after Houghton's driven shot had rebounded off the goalkeeper and when Heeb tipped over Cunningham's likely header just minutes later, we sensed that we'd been here before.

In the opening 20 minutes the Irish forced 10 corners in a bombardment which brought back some disturbing memories, all the more so after Gary Kelly, in splendid isolation, had gone very close.

The effect of the first of Connolly's goals was to replace a growing crisis with calm and once the tension had been defused, the path to Liechtenstein's goal, narrow and difficult in those opening minutes, became a broad highway. Connolly's second strike in the 35 minute was the product of a flowing move involving Keane, Houghton and Townsend and ended with the Watford man shaking off Patrick Hefti's challenge before lifting the ball over the diving Heeb.

It was all executed with the excitement of a precocious talent and, four minutes from the interval, he struck again, this time firing Townsend's shot over the line after the Irish captain had run like a stag to make contact with Houghton's pass.

Liechtenstein's sole attack in the opening half had not taken them within five yards of Shay Given's goal. And then the support for Mario Frick was so scattered, that the threat was minimal.

Jeff Kenna, who had another excellent game in the position vacated by Denis Irwin, floated the perfect centre for Cascarino to clear Thomas Hanselmann comfortably and head a textbook score in the 59th minute.

At this stage the visitors were in full retreat and the fifth goal, a replica of the fourth, was no more than the Irish deserved on a night when they duplicated that comprehensive win in Liechtenstein last August.