A precious point won or two lost? The answer was not readily discernible in the Irish dressing-room in the immediate aftermath of a volatile start to their World Cup qualifying programme in the Amsterdam Arena.

Roy Keane, leaving the pitch with only a cursory acknowledgement of the 5,000 Irish fans singing in the rain, left no doubt where his sentiments lay.

An island of composure in a turbulent sea in the closing 20 minutes, the Republic of Ireland captain was unhappy in failing to win a game that was theirs for the taking until well into the second half. Manchester United are not accustomed to losing such leads and the sense of anti-climax was written into the face of a dedicated winner.

Even as he disappeared down the tunnel, however, his team-mates were on their way to that area of the stadium holding the Irish supporters. And their body language spoke more of triumph than failure.

In truth, it was difficult to disagree. A skilful, disciplined performance, decorated by fine goals from Robbie Keane and Jason McAteer, frequently relegated the Dutch to second best.

And who among the fans would not gladly have settled for a point before the squad left base for the first of two intimidating tests at the start of their World Cup programme.

Yet, it was difficult not to feel mildly cheated in those eventful final minutes as the Dutch broke in waves across the Irish defence. The disappointment was mitigated only by the thought that it might have been still worse.

A third goal for the Dutch would have been a monstrous injustice, but thankfully Richard Dunne, at the summit of an admirable performance, managed to whip the ball from the feet of Patrick Kluivert as the striker prepared to pull the trigger in injurytime.

Given that Giovanni van Bronckhorst's flamboyant equaliser some nine minutes earlier had arrived in Alan Kelly's net only with the aid of a wicked deflection off Mark Kinsella, that was no more than equitable. But it served to illustrate the extent to which the tide had turned in those final, tense minutes.

In an attempt to batten down the hatches after Jeffrey Talan's goal had given the Dutch new impetus in the 71st minute, Mick McCarthy made three substitutions, sending on David Connolly, Gary Kelly and Steve Staunton. And in each instance, he was entitled to expect more than he received from them. Kelly and Staunton, players with impressive track records at this level of competition, never quite got to the pitch of the game. Connolly, a long way removed from the form which marked his early international displays, was ill-fitted for the job of holding the ball up front and offering some respite to an overworked defence.

The substitutions were made at the expense of Jason McAteer, Kevin Kilbane and Niall Quinn, all of whom had performed splendidly but who later betrayed the signs of weariness.

In the case of Kilbane, in particular, the loss was profound. After a modest start, he grew into one of the game's most influential players in the second half, repeatedly stretching the Dutch with deep incisive runs.

It meant the Dutch, who made a master move by bringing Clarence Seedorf into the game at half-time, could never afford to relax at the back. But with the Sunderland winger gone and McAteer replaced on the opposite flank, the home team had licence to roll forward almost incessantly at the finish.

That contrasted starkly with what had gone before. With Roy Keane putting it all together in midfield and his namesake Robbie playing with customary effervescence up front, they dominated the opposition in terms of skill and commitment in the opening half.

If the Keanes' contribution was predictable, there was the unexpected bonus for McCarthy of watching his new centre back partnership of Dunne and Gary Breen perform superbly. Some of Kluivert's touches were sublime and yet the measure of the performances of the centre backs is that in spite of broad supply lines, the striker failed to score. At times, Ian Harte found Ronald de Boer a real handful, but on the opposite flank Steve Carr capitalised on the immaturity of Dutch newcomer Wilfred Bouma to enjoy probably his best game for Ireland.

That vindicated McCarthy's judgment and he was proved right, too, in his controversial choice of McAteer. Not since the balmy days of his early alliance with Liverpool has the winger played better. And significantly, he was centrally involved in both of Ireland's goals.

With Niall Quinn putting himself about with some abandon, the visitors gave substance to their pledge to take the game to the opposition by forcing three corners in the opening 11 minutes. Quinn had already gone close when the Dutch defence fell in the 21st minute.

Carr and McAteer exchanged passes in the corner, McAteer crossed and Robbie Keane delivered on his £13 million rating to plant a firm header into the corner of the net.

Having protected their advantage with only occasional moments of alarm to half time, they reached out for the applause of even the home supporters with an equally good second goal in the 65th minute.

The strength and persistence of Quinn and Robbie Keane set up the score and when the ball arrived in McAteer's path, he beat goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar comprehensively with a swerving shot from 25 yards.

Talan's goal, after he had stolen in on Harte's blindside, traced the outline of a reprieve for the Dutch but 90 seconds later Kilbane had the chance to kill off the game for the Irish. After an exhilarating run which took him through the centre of the defence, however, he saw his shot slide just wide of the far upright.

In the event, that miss would come back to haunt the men in green when Van Bronckhorst, not for the first time in his career, hurled his thunderbolt from wide on the left and, with the help of a deflection, arced the shot beyond the reach of Alan Kelly.

In freak moments such as this are dreams made or broken, but when the initial indignation has subsided, McCarthy will have reason to view next month's journey to Lisbon with the kind of confidence that might have been unthinkable earlier in the week.

Holland: E van der Sar, M Reiziger (C Seedorf, 45mins), B Konterman (J Talan, 67), F de Boer, G van Bronckhorst: R de Boer, P Bosvelt, R Witschge (A Bruggink, 60), W Bouma; P Cocu, P Kluivert.

Republic of Ireland: A Kelly (Blackburn); S Carr (Tottenham), G Breen (Coventry), R Dunne (Everton), I Harte (Leeds United); J McAteer (Blackburn) (G Kelly, Leeds United, 74 mins), Roy Keane (Man Utd), M Kinsella (Charlton), K Kilbane (Sunderland) (S Staunton, Liverpool, 78); Robbie Keane (Inter Milan), N Quinn (Sunderland), (D Connolly, Excelsior, 72).