Republic of Ireland 2 Australia 1
Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr faces an anxious 24-hour wait on news of star striker Robbie Keane after he was stretchered off with suspected ankle ligament damage in tonight's 2-1 friendly win over Australia at Lansdowne Road.
The Tottenham striker is central to Kerr's plans for the upcoming European Championship qualifier against Russia here in three weeks and with Clinton Morrison still not fully match fit - despite scoring tonight - following shoulder trouble, the manager is facing a selection headache should Keane be ruled out.
While Morrison looked lively on his introduction 12 minutes after the break - his first touch was a shot on goal - Kerr will regard it imperative that he works his way back into the Birmingham side in the coming weeks.
Ireland managers have not been blessed with rich pickings up front and though David Connolly, who came on in place of Keane, has found his range in the Nationwide league, he again offered Kerr little to mull over despite troubling the visitors defence in the dying minutes.
If the sluggish opening period from the home side perplexed the 37,200 strong crowd, Kerr and his management team will have been left scratching their heads in bewilderment at the lack lustre, loose uncoordinated play from their players. To make matter worse Matt Holland was forced off with an ankle injury and replaced by Colin Healy after just 19 minutes.
Australia, playing a familiar 4-4-2 formation, pressed on in the first half with Blackburn recruit Brett Emerton imposing himself on proceedings, regularly jinking in from the right flank to take order in the middle of the park where captain Paul Okon dismally failed to make an impact.
Chances were few and far between in a desperately tame first half. Marco Bresciano went very close after 13 minutes but his well timed volley, which had Nicky Colgan beaten in goal, cannoned back off the cross bar and away from danger.
After 21 minutes, the visitors almost broke the deadlock when Danny Tiatto raced in behind Gary Breen to latch onto Mark Schwarzer's booming clearance. However, the Manchester City player blazed his rushed effort wide of Colgan's far post.
Ireland were inventive down both flanks with John O'Shea and Damien Duff liking well down the left while Stephen Carr and Liverpool's Steve Finnan - returning having missed the qualifers against Albania and Georgia through injury - showing well on the opposite side.
However, for all their initiative and teasing crosses the finishing touch could not be applied with both Gary Doherty and Keane fluffing their lines inside the box.
The best chance of the half fell to Keane two minutes from the break. Collecting on a deft Mark Kinsella through ball, Keane arrived at the far side of the box but his powerful shot was smothered well by Schwarzer. The ball, however, rebounded and it was under Popovic's challenge that Keane, scrambling for the ball, went down and out.
Kerr introduced Newcastle's Andy O'Brien for Gary Breen at the break and it was soon after that O'Brien's defensive partner captain Kenny Cunningham mis-timed a clearance, allowing Mark Viduka through for the opening goal.
Stan Lazaridis provided a mouth-watering cross from the left four minutes after the restart and the ball crept in behind the Irish defence. Cunningham was caught out by the flight of the ball and as he turned, Viduka crept in on his shoulder to steer the ball past Colgan.
Clinton Morrison's introduction 12 minutes in boosted Ireland and gave them an alternative attacking option to the ineffective Doherty. His jinking runs and clever positioning caused the Australian defence problems and with his first touch he struck goalbound only to see his effort drift wide of the post.
Ireland were back on level terms with 16 minutes remaining. John O'Shea, arguably Kerr's most solid player on the night, rose purposefully between defenders to powerfully head home from second half substitute Ian Harte's free kick from the right.
Then with 10 minutes remaining, Morrison beat the offside trap to find himself one-on-one with Schwarzer. The Birmingham striker lost his balance just as he went to shoot but nevertheless got a toe on the ball to steer in through the onrushing 'keeper's leg. Despite Tony Vidmar's best efforts to deny Morrison his fifth international goal, his attempt was in vein as the bumper crowd on the south terrace willed the ball over the line.
Brian Kerr maintains his unbeaten record as Ireland manager - seven games - but the injury to Keane will sour tonight's deserved, if somewhat cumbersome victory.