SOCCER/Manager's reaction:We are not quite used to the more gladiatorial space which the press conference room in Croke Park offers. The media rise in tiers above the managers who come to speak and on bad days one can imagine that things will get theatrically tense, writes  Tom Humphries.

Steve Staunton must like the feel of the place however. His two post-match trips in the past few days have been triumphant retributions to the media who have scourged him. A narrow win over Wales on Saturday and the same recipe against Slovakia last night leaves Staunton on something of a roll. 'Never mind the quality feel the wins' - was the message. There have been four of them on the trot now and Ireland can point at least to the patina of respectability which their placing in the table gives.

Last night's solid, sometimes excellent, performance was perhaps the best of Staunton's reign. He would be forgiven for feeling that it marked his arrival as a manager. His grin, under red flushed cheeks, seemed to say it all in typical Staunton fashion. "Enough for ye, ya gang of know nothings!" He snubbed us with a 32-second press conference during the week. Now, though, he comes among us again happy but still inimical to our presence. His guru Bobby Robson was with him, riding shotgun. Robson insisted on explaining his presence first.

"I said 'Stan, win lose or draw, we go to the press conference together.' Seeing some of the outrageous remarks of the last few days I thought I should stand by him. Let's look forward to six months of calmness and constructiveness. His (Staunton's) stay of execution is through."

The older man continued with a long monologue about the game we had just seen; a ramble which unintentionally had the effect of undermining his friend and protégé and putting pressure on those working to deadline.

When Staunton finally spoke the utterances were predictable enough.

"Thought we did very well. It was a night game. A bit of zip on the pitch helped us. Those young lads are learning. Not too many grounds with 70,000 in them tonight. In the second half, when we were under the cosh, the crowd realised what the players had given them and they got behind them again.

"We produced what we did against the Czech republic. Great pace and passion to the first half. Went at them."

Damien Duff was back to what he does best. Feet of Astaire, hips of Presley - he jived , shuffled and jitterbugged with the ball at his feet. In a first half when the Irish seemed too full with promise to be limited to just one goal it was Duff who was prompting and cajoling all the way.

"Damian put some great crosses in tonight. We scored at a vital time when we were on top," said the manager.

If Duff is a throwback to another time when wingers wore baggy shorts and brilliantined hair, Kevin Doyle's goal was also a souvenir from a greater era. A solid centre forward's meaty header putting the ball past the despairing fingers of the Slovak keeper. Doyle is here to stay.

"He took the goal very well. He did magnificent to get across the defender. We know Kevin can score goals - when he is fully match-fit again he will be an asset. He had been out for six or eight weeks. Training is different from match fitness. The half hour on Saturday blew the cobwebs out of his system. He did very well," said Staunton.

Richard Dunne's defensive performance earned him a man of the match award and Staunton was happy to add his own encomium to the defence and to the emerging midfielder Stephen Ireland.

"When they got on top the back four were invincible and the two in midfield worked their socks off. Their team play with a man in front of the back four. Tonight Stevie (Ireland) closed them down that way. He did very well. He was carrying an injury and he did great for us."

Down the way in the corridor outside the press room, Staunton's players buzzed happily through the mixed zone, the siege mentality they have lived with for a week now lifted. The media, perceived as blood enemies rather than critics, lain waste.

If you'd said to Steve Staunton when he was laying out cones at Walsall that Ireland would lose 5-2 to Cyprus and struggle to beat San Marino he would have felt that the Irish manager, whoever he was, would surely get slaughtered.

He has been through the ring of fire. September and the trips to Bratislava and Prague will tell us more about his resilience and his side's potential. Meanwhile summer will bring respite.

"He's earned it." said Robson emphatically and off they went for a spot of fishing.