Stephen Kenny was happy to see that his players got their just rewards after securing their first ever Nations League victory, defeating Scotland 3-0 at the Aviva Stadium.
Two first half goals put Ireland in control of the game as Kenny's side landed their first points in this year's competition, as Alan Browne and Troy Parrott handed Ireland a 2-0 lead at the break.
And Kenny’s side followed it up with an impressive second half performance as Michael Obafemi’s wonderstrike put a real shine on the scoreline in Dublin.
Two defeats in the first two games, Kenny believed that Ireland could have had four points coming into the Scottish game such was the dominance his side showed in Armenia and then matching Ukraine on Wednesday night where a "fluke" goal won it for the visitors.
But the win finally did arrive as Steve Clarke’s side, who are ranked higher than Ireland in the FIFA listings, were put to the sword on a sunny evening down Lansdowne Road.
"It’s a significant win by the players," said Kenny, speaking after the game. "Scotland have had a lot of really good results in the past couple of years, they’ve been to the European Championships and have a lot of players in the Premier League.
"The players performed really well and overall, I feel we’ve deserved better than we have got, so tonight thankfully the early chances went in and that makes such a difference."
Kenny was happy with the way his side managed and controlled the game playing under a different system, with Obafemi leading the line, backed up by Parrott.
And the midfield unit of Josh Cullen, Jayson Molumby and Jason Knight, backed up by wingbacks James McClean and Alan Browne, really added energy to the performance, putting Scotland under pressure on the ball from the opening stages.
"We did change our system. We obviously played 3-5-2 or 3-5-1-1 as opposed to 3-4-2-1.
"Not everything was perfect," admitted the manager who insists that his side remain a work in progress.
"We’ve had some better passages of play in other games and not scored, but goals make such a difference once you get them, and the crowd get up and the players’ confidence gets up.
"We’re managed the game very well, controlled the game. Scott Hogan nearly got a fourth.
"But we have a quick turnaround to Ukraine on Tuesday," added Kenny, who would not dwell too long on the opening win.
"And that is at the forefront of my mind at the minute. Leave that behind us and we have Ukraine on Tuesday. We have a few injuries so we’ll have some selection dilemmas."
The manager asked the players coming into the side to grab their opportunity and players like Browne, Molumby and especially Obafemi certainly returned the favour.
"I couldn’t have envisaged him scoring a goal like that," said Kenny, when asked about Obafemi. "But I think having watched him play in the run of games – I watched him play quite a bit towards the end of the season.
"His overall performances for Swansea towards the end of the season were the best of our strikers, if I was to rate them.
"He worked very hard for the team, but obviously his pass for Troy Parrott’s header, it was just a great combination between the two players, terrific play, and his goal was really a moment of immense quality.
"It was great to see that hit the back of the net and it lifted the stadium. It was terrific."
Coming into the game on the back of two straight defeats, Kenny stressed there was no problem with confidence coming into the game.
"No absolutely not," said Kenny, when asked was it difficult to instil confidence ahead of the game.
"We know what we are doing. We have had setbacks. We were on a great run and the setbacks really hurt us, but the players have absolute conviction in the group.
"We are emerging, we’re not perfect, there’s growth in this squad and team for sure, but we had some good players missing today.
"We can continue to try to improve."
Follow Ukraine v Republic of Ireland (Tuesday, 7.45pm) via our live blog on rte.ie/sport or on the RTÉ News app. Watch live coverage on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player commencing at 7pm
