Paul O'Hehir at Lansdowne Road
Republic of Ireland 1 Romania 0
Having received a clean bill of health from the medical team yesterday morning, Roy Keane finally drew a line under the 'will he, wont he, should he, shouldn't he' calamity that has clouded Irish football for 24 months by returning to Lansdowne Road last night as a player.
He was among a string of players, most notably Liam Miller, Andy Reid, goalscorer Matt Holland and defenders Andy O'Brien and Steve Finnan, who turned in crowd pleasing performances, with Manchester United bound Miller voted man-of-the-match.
Holland nabbed his fifth goal in 40 appearances with a superb volley from the edge of the box four minutes from time after Miller had sent Clinton Morrison free in the corner. The Birmingham striker in turn crossed for Holland to sweep home the volley past substitute goalkeeper Stelea Bogdan.
Keane's last game in a green jersey was two years and 11 days ago when Nigeria misread the script and spoiled the World Cup send-off party with a 2-1 friendly win here in Dublin.
"I'm delighted to win, it was a good performance...and Keane made a fantastic contribution," Republic manager Brian Kerr said after the match. "We had lots of chances and it was a brilliant goal. We had a nice shape about us and Roy and Matt set the tone for the game.
"Roy played well and could have been man of the match. His passing was accurate and he showed why we wanted him back. He made a fantastic contribution," concluded Kerr.
Holland, Keane's partner in the centre of midfield, echoed Kerr's sentiments. "I've always said with Roy in the side we have a better chance and that's what we're here for, we want to qualify for the big tournaments," the Charlton star said.
Those who still hold the Manchester United captain in contempt went largely unheard as the majority of the 42,356 crowd were pleased to see the former skipper return.
His supporters smothered the early boos with boisterous chants of 'Keano, Keano', a call reserved of late for his namesake Robbie who was making his 50th appearance.
When a troublesome hamstring ruled Keane out of last month's Poland trip on the morning of departure, the begrudgers were vocal and became more so when "domestic arrangements" meant the Corkman would miss the upcoming Nigeria, Jamaica and Holland friendlies.
But in Dublin 4's dilapidated old stadium last evening, Keane posted reminders for those in doubt as to why his presence in the side is so vital ahead of the 2006 qualifying campaign with a swashbuckling offering of old from midfield.
He was quietly effective in slowing and then speeding up the play; throwing his rickety body into a number of hefty challenges and his presence, above all, lifted the game of a number of team-mates, none more so than Holland and Reid.
His opening touches thrilled the crowd and a slick third minute flick released Morrison but the striker was adjudged offside. Keane and partner Holland dictated the early play with wingers Reid and Miller looking sharp when sent down the flanks.
Keane had a seventh minute opportunity to crown his international return with what would have been his 10th goal, but after tearing through the visitors defence he pulled his shot off target and Morrison could not steer home when sliding in at the far post.
Robbie Keane, needing just three goals to beat Niall Quinn's 21 goal record to become Ireland's all-time leading scorer, was another on his game early on, teasing both Adrian Iencsi and Sorin Ghionea in the Romanian defence.
The Tottenham striker proved difficult to mark when dropping deep. Finding himself unmarked at times, and with time on the ball, his distribution was clever and precise, playing in Reid on 13 minutes only to see his team-mate's weak effort blocked on the edge of the box.
Reid in return set up the Tallaghtman eight minutes later although goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont made a smart save. Soon after Miller dinked a delightful ball through to him but Ghionea had the measure of his opponent and shielded the ball to safety.
Robbie Keane again went close just after the half hour mark when his shot-cum-cross from the endline skipped across the face of goal but ultimately away to safety.
Romania brought a well structured system to the table and the crisp passing Brian Kerr had warned about was evident but their chances were few and far between with striker Virol Ganea nabbing the best of them with a looping header that sailed harmlessly wide of Shay Given's post.
Save for another Roy Keane chance going a begging five minutes after the restart, Holland's superb goal and the introduction of debutant Martin Rowlands for Reid 10 minutes from time, the second half produced little in the way of goal-mouth action. Roy Keane played in his namesake Robbie midway through but the Spurs player took too much out of the ball and was dispossessed inside the box by Iencsi who had a fine game for the visitors.
So a fine night's work for Kerr who will depart Dublin today in high spirits ahead of tomorrow's clash with Nigeria in London.
The manager is expected to name a much changed side for that game but will be understandably reluctant to tinker too much following last night's performance when his men comfortably outfoxed a Romanian side that eventually ran out of puff in a disappointing second half.