Andy Reid may have been dancing around English football for a number of seasons but he, refreshingly, doesn't mince his words. The goal later, but first Reid got across his view on the random criticism that occasionally pursues Robbie Keane. Twenty-nine goals in 70 caps, Robbie Keane that is.

"He is a fantastic player and it really annoys me when people give him stick. His work-rate and ability are just fantastic. The hat-trick tonight was two fingers to the knockers."

After the low point of Nicosia, Reid was spared the experience, the Charlton Athletic sometime winger, sometime playmaker, appears to have established a permanent role in Steve Staunton's team. Two games now, four points, a goal and 180 minutes of quality passing.

The early goal? "It was destined for the top corner if not for the deflection. That's my view of it anyway. Frank Lampard does it every week so I'll take it tonight.

"It was vital to get an early goal. We were expected to go out and score five goals and we did that. Nobody took the mickey and we did it properly for the whole game."

Cyprus just drew with Germany, is there still hope? "This group is wide open. We are still in with a great shout."

This seemed like a Saturday afternoon kickabout when all the decent players arrived down to the park in green T-shirts and were paired together for convenience. We waited for Stan to walk on the field and say: "Hey lads, you have Duffer, Robbie and McShane for the second half. We'll take anyone except Andy Selva."

Of course, that didn't happen. Instead, Ireland were expected to come out for the last stanza at Old Lansdowne and ram home their professionalism.

Thankfully the rickety ground has served its time. That should carry resonance even to an English Premiership footballer. For this was the place many of their fathers introduced them to the international arena. On an evening much like last night.

Looking at the age profile, that would have been during the early 1990s when the last vestiges of the glory years were petering out. It was a time when Stan lived down the left flank. A happier time no doubt.

Or maybe none of that matters. Maybe coming back across the water to play San Marino on a Wednesday in November is as mundane a chore a footballer can undertake.

Robbie Keane refused to harp on the sentimentality factor but he did make a mature statement about the future. "I got a hat-trick so it is special. I have a lot of great memories that I will have for the rest of my life. It is a shame but we want to move on as a country and try and better ourselves."

It took a burst forward from the hero of the penultimate game at Lansdowne to restart the game's engine. Paul McShane was again leading from the front when he drew a penalty off Simone Bacciocchi. Keane's penalty made it a respectable 4-0 to ensure nobody could criticise the gaffer this morning.

The bench was emptied soon after and that largely was that. Of course, the captain was now chasing a hat-trick. Keane became the third Irishman to achieve this feat (John Aldridge twice and David Connolly) at Lansdowne after 85 minutes.

"We got three up first," continued Keane. "Made sure we secured the three points. That was first. After that we could sort of enjoy ourselves if you like and we did that but we did it in the right manner. We kept the ball, one or two touches. That's where we got our goals from.

"We knew our full backs would get a lot of ball so it was important we got them into the game and then got Duffer also into the game. He was magnificent. After that we started to play."