THAT'S a bit more like it.

Only a bit, mind, but more like it all the same. On the day soccer was played in Croke Park for the first time, a much more pressing form of history was made. A goal, a win, as good as a guarantee of a few more months in the job for Steve Staunton.

All is not suddenly alright with the Irish soccer team's world after this, no more than one result meant all was suddenly asunder beforehand.

But the hoped-for first principles of Staunton's reign were here . . . a little fizz, a little passion and a defence that never really looked like coughing up a goal. It's not an awful lot but it's a place to start.

And that's all anyone was asking for. What never fails to surprise is the extent to which this Ireland side can hang on to the public's faith in them, come what may. All week, despite San Marino, despite Cyprus, despite everything, the prevailing attitude towards the game had been that however bad things were, they would somehow come right now. Wales, a side with two exceptional players in Ryan Giggs and Craig Bellamy, one worthy soldier in Simon Davies and a manager of long and expert standing in John Toshack, were 4-1 underdogs yesterday. And this against a side with not very much more to boast about playingwise, whose manager has two competitive wins to point to on his CV, both against San Marino.

But Ireland were greeted as heroes here when they came out. Every slate is a clean one with these players and these supporters, every leaf turned over a new one. There's an optimism at the centre of that relationship that can't but warm the heart. If only it was repaid a little more often.

A combination of things cooled their fervour here. A couple of early Damien Duff flurries came to nothing, encouraging and energetic though they were. Some quick restarts from Duff and Shay Given and, once, even assistant manager Kevin MacDonald were a clear sign that the big idea for the afternoon was to keep the show sizzling and the tempo high and yet it was all work and no playmaking. Part of that was down, interestingly, to a pitch that definitely coughed up more bobbles than it should have and did nothing to help anyone's first touch.

In time, though, what kept the crowd quiet was that the game settled down into a not particularly quick, not overly attractive encounter where very few players were of a mind to put their foot on the ball for longer than was strictly necessary. Jonathan Douglas and Lee Carsley had the most of matters in the middle of the field, Douglas catching especially the eye with a tackle on 20 minutes whose fierceness was matched only by the cleverness with which he went on to feed Robbie Keane.

Keane's left-foot shot was dragged wide, but the effort was something to applaud all the same.

Still, what's always been a problem is still a problem for Ireland. No matter how much you get Keane and Duff into any game, they need back-up and they need support. On a few occasions yesterday, they found themselves chasing down balls played to either flank with only each other for company and it wasn't until Stephen Ireland switched positions with Duff . . . joining Keane up front and letting Duff out to the right wing . . .that they began to work openings.

First Duff ran on to a perfectly weighted Keane through ball but never got his feet right, with the consequence that his right-foot shot was weak and straight at Danny Coyne. But soon after, Ireland showed him up in showing him how it should be done.

From an almost identical position . . . after a pretty much identical through ball from the self-same provider in Keane . . . Ireland drew Coyne, rounded him and slotted home from a horrid angle. It hadn't been the first time we'd seen a little feint from the Manchester City midfielder . . .who, with three goals and rarely less than polished performances has strong claims for Ireland's player of the campaign so far . . . but it was a filigree of class that deserved the goal it brought.

Boy, was it nervy from there to the finish line, though.

Far from kicking on and killing the game, Ireland played out time until the break and came out for the second half as though they didn't quite believe they deserved to be ahead. Wales, by contrast, did all they could to get back into matters, including at one stage sending centre-half James Collins up to make a nuisance of himself in attack.

For all the Welsh hustle, however, they never really threatened to make Given do any work. One Giggs cross was flashed at by Bellamy without him making any great connection and on the solitary occasion Bellamy did strike a shot, the linesman's flag made the outcome academic.

So on to Wednesday night and Slovakia. Robbie Keane picked up a yellow card that will keep him out of the game but that was reduced to a minor issue last night.

Everything is a minor issue when a win swings by to ease the pressure.