Ireland striker Daryl Murphy was pleased to repay the faith that Martin O’Neill showed in him with a two goal display against Moldova.
Murphy scored both of the goals in Ireland's 2-0 victory, a result which keeps Ireland’s World Cup 2018 hopes alive and sends them to Cardiff on Monday knowing that win will guarantee them second place in the group.
The Nottingham Forest striker opened the scoring after just two minutes with a real poacher's goal, slamming home the ball from a flick-on after a long throw.
Murphy’s second had a touch of class as he finished off a wonderful Irish move with an expertly placed header and for the striker, those two goals were a way to pay back the Irish manager for keeping faith in him despite some lean spells.
"It was nice to score," he told RTÉ Sport. "There was a bit of faith from the manager to start me in such a big game and I knew I had to produce and thankfully I took a few chances.
"It’s always nice to get an early goal especially in a game like this, you don’t want it dragging out and the longer the game goes on and it’s 0-0 then you start getting a bit restless.
Reflecting on the second goal, he said: "It was nice, a great cross and I just timed it well really, I didn’t have to put too much power on it. It was all in the cross I just had to direct it and thankfully it went in.
"It probably wasn’t our best performance but I think the result was all that mattered tonight. We knew we needed to win, we’ve done the job, kept a clean sheet so we’re happy.
Murphy’s brace puts him in the frame to start against Wales on Monday, but the player is taking nothing for granted.
"We’ll see what happens, we’ll see what the manager thinks. I think it’s just a case of rest and recovery now and look to the big one."
Man-of-the-match Daryl Murphy talks to Tony O'Donoghue after his two goal salvo gave Ireland victory over Moldova. pic.twitter.com/ehecSQjD6j
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) October 6, 2017
Callum O’Dowda was the other stand-out performer on the night, making his first competitive start for Ireland.
The Bristol City man impressed with his movement and running off the ball and in the first-half especially caused major problems for the Moldovans.
O’Dowda did not let himself reflect on a good performance for long however and is already focusing on Monday’s clash with Wales.
"We know what we needed to do in this game, it all comes down the game on Monday now.
"It was exactly what we intended to do and happily we got it done.
"I felt really good. Obviously I was playing in a different role in central midfield but I had the option to go wide as well, but most importantly we got the three points."
