Richard Dunne rekindled memories of the legendary Paul McGrath as the Republic of Ireland kept their World Cup dreams alive in Bulgaria. The 29-year-old Manchester City defender turned in a superb performance in Sofia to lay the foundation for a 1-1 draw which keeps the Republic in the hunt for a top two finish in Group Eight.

Not only did Dunne marshal his defence to keep out a Bulgaria side including Dimitar Berbatov, Stiliyan Petrov, Martin Petrov and Valeri Bojinov, but he also headed home the 24th-minute goal which opened the scoring.

But once the Bulgarians had levelled when midfielder Dimitar Telkiyski took full advantage of Kevin Kilbane’s slip five minutes later, the Irish were forced to hang on for dear life.

Dunne, who had a pain-killing injection in his knee before the game, revelled in his mission as he shepherded Preston’s Sean St Ledger through his competitive debut in an Ireland shirt to draw high praise from his team-mates.

Skipper Robbie Keane said: “Richard has played a lot of superb games, but it was certainly one of his great games, scoring the goal and the whole thing of being injured as well.

“To get through it, it was reminiscent of Paul McGrath.”

Club-mate Shay Given said: “He had an injection before the game. We were trying to keep that quiet from the Bulgarians, but I think he should have one every week, he was that good. He was fantastic.

“I have been playing with him now since the end of January at Manchester City.

“I know he came in for a bit of stick at the start of the season, but since I have been at Manchester City, he has been fantastic.

“Last night, he was a real rock - Paul McGrath-like, to be honest. It was unbelievable.

“It was a fantastic header he scored for our goal, and then in our box, he was brilliant, heading everything clear, and even one v ones.

“He was different class and deservedly man of the match.”

Dunne modestly played down his role in a draw which leaves Ireland a point adrift of leaders Italy, but crucially five ahead of Bulgaria with both sides having played one game fewer than Giovanni Trapattoni’s men.

Ireland head for Cyprus in September, where they would probably need to win to stand a realistic chance of overhauling the Italians to claim automatic qualification.

Asked if automatic qualification is still within their grasp, Dunne said: “I hope so, that’s been the aim all along.

“We know we have to go to Cyprus now and probably get the three points rather than the draw.

“But if we go there and win that, we know we have got a great chance going into the last two games.”

That was a sentiment echoed by Given, a veteran of the adventure in the Far East seven years ago, who knows just how important the trip to Cyprus could be ahead of the Republic’s final two home games against Italy and Montenegro.

He said: “You could see their\[Bulgaria’s] reaction at the end, they were dead on the ground, they knew how important it was for them and a draw was definitely a better result for us than for them.

“It keeps them at arm’s length from us. We have a big game next against Cyprus away and if we can win that, then roll on Dublin.”