The Republic of Ireland beat Wales 3-0 in the opening match of the Carling Nations Cup on Tuesday night, with Fulham winger Damien Duff scoring Ireland’s second goal of the game after 67 minutes.
The contest marked Gary Speed’s first game in charge of Wales but it was the home side that took total control in the second half on Tuesday evening at the Aviva Stadium.
Manchester United’s Darron Gibson scored Ireland’s first goal with a stunning shot from 25 yards on the hour mark before Duff made it two seven minutes later, firing past Wayne Hennessey from 12 yards.
Duff certainly carried his impressive recent form for Fulham into Tuesday’s game, delivering a performance that earned him the ‘Man of the Match’ award. After the game Duff was clearly delighted to have scored but was already turning his attention towards the Republic’s crucial Euro 2012 qualifier against Macedonia on March 26th.
"It was nice to score again for Ireland after quite a while,” said Duff. “It has become a bit of an issue over the last couple of years so it was good to get back on the score-sheet.
"But what was more important was to win the match and get the three points and I believed we deserved to do that. Wales made us work hard but I think we deserved it and we played a nice bit of football at times.
"We must have a good chance of winning the Carling Nations Cup and as much as it would be important to go on and win it now, it would be more important, I think, to qualify for the UEFA Championship finals and we have a big one against Macedonia next month."