Stephen Kenny hailed his supporting cast after they secured a vital U21 Euro qualifying victory in Armenia yesterday.
Zack Elbouzedi sole strike just past the hour proved the difference in Yerevan to keep Ireland at the summit of Group One.
They will have just three qualifiers left after Tuesday’s meeting with second seeds Sweden at Tallaght, as the route to the 2021 finals remains in sight.
Kenny will be missing stand-in captain Dara O’Shea after he was sent off for a professional foul with 15 minutes left.
Skipper Jayson Molumby will return from suspension but Kenny admitted he’s still unsure whether senior call-ups Troy Parrott and Lee O’Connor will be available for the Sweden showdown.
They could yet be involved in the decisive Euro qualifier against Denmark 24 hours earlier.
Kenny has got used to shuffling his pack since migrating to international football from the club circuit 12 months ago.
Yesterday’s starting line-up showed seven changes, most enforced, from the side beaten 1-0 last time out in Iceland.
“Between goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu and three of the back-four, we have four debuts starting,” said Kenny.
“They all did fantastically well because top seeds Italy only won 1-0 here last month.
“Armenia couldn’t cope with our high-pressing game. Our only problem was not putting chances away.”
Three clearcut opportunities were wasted in a first half that Ireland dominated.
Jason Knight , marauding from midfield, sliced his shot wide on the half hour while Nathan Collins prodded a close-range shot straight at Sevak Aslanyan.
The Armenian goalkeeper was forced to go full stretch approaching the break after Elbouzedi cut in from the left and drove a low shot inside the near post.
“That was our plan,” said the matchwinner. “We’d seen from the video of Armenia that we could get at their full-back.
“I had got the better of the him in the early exchanges and decided to have another go.”
The winger – currently a free agent after finishing his season at cash-strapped Waterford – continued to be Ireland’s best attacking outlet after the break.
He was unable to get Adam Idah’s cross under sufficient control to get a shot away but managed to do so with aplomb for the winner.
A flowing move down the right side saw Idah peel away from his marker to fire in a low cross.
Connor Ronan was first to the ball but with the instinct to spot Elbouzedi lurking behind unmarked. His dummy afforded the flanker time to control the pass and lift his shot over the advancing goalkeeper.
Idah’s failure to execute a similar move two minutes later nearly cost Ireland as O’Shea was forced to halt Karen Melkonyan surge straight on goal 15 minutes from full-time after the flanker had given him the slip. ‘On first viewing, it looked like a red card,’ admitted Kenny afterwards.
Thankfully, Vahan Bichakhchyan’s resultant free-kick from 20 yards was blocked by the wall. His two efforts in the final stages were off-target but Ireland were relived to see Hrachya Geghamy nod over from six yards after his late run into the box wasn’t tracked.
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