As the weather that grounded the local airline's fleet ensured around half the Irish fans intent on being inside the Torsvollur stadium last night had to settle for watching the game in airport bars dotted across Europe, Brian Kerr's side successfully battled both the elements and the best the Faroese could throw at them to take three precious points home with them from Tórshavn.

Before the game it had appeared the only thing to fear was the lack of fear itself but after some shaky first-half moments the Republic of Ireland applied themselves sufficiently to merit their win over the part-timers and move top of Group Four by a point thanks to an Ian Harte penalty six minutes into the second period and a Kevin Kilbane deflected goal just short of the hour.

Stephen Elliott earned the visitors their spot-kick at a good time for the Irish whose nerves might have started to become just a little raw had the stalemate been maintained much longer. The locals, after all, had matched their more polished opponents for scoring chances through the opening period and went very close to scoring almost immediately after the restart when Rogvi Jacobsen headed Claus Jorgensen's corner over from six yards out.

The Irish had carved out a steady supply of chances without producing the required finish and they may have been a little fortunate when John O'Shea sent Elliott racing down the right with a well-weighted ball that the home side's goalkeeper Jakup Mikkelsen arrived late to upend the striker and leave the Bulgarian referee no option but to point to the spot.

Even with Ireland having developed a knack for surrendering leads over the course of this campaign, the goal was always likely to ensure victory. Any hopes the home side had of battling their way back into things were killed off eight minutes later when Kilbane's shot from the edge of the area took a hefty deflection off Oli Johannesen to leave with Mikkelsen with no chance.

Over what remained of the game the locals held out well enough and twice threatened to give Kerr's men a jolt by scoring at the other end but in what was a scrappy game, the pattern clearly affected by the weather, the Irish had chances to score again too. At the end the margin of victory was an adequate enough reflection of the teams' respective performances.

That Elliott started was a somewhat welcome surprise after Kerr's reluctance to use him on Saturday at a time when the team had been in a commanding position against the Israelis. The 21-year-old, though, had spent the season just ended scoring regularly for Sunderland against defenders much less accomplished than those of the home side last night and if the Irish had dominated the game the way they should have in the opening half there might have been an opportunity for him to get off the mark in his competitive international debut.

Instead, the Irish made surprisingly hard work of their task in every department, particularly up front where neither Elliott nor Clinton Morrison seemed able to settle. The Birmingham City striker's greatest problem appeared to be the timing of his runs with one offside decision after another going against him. His first touch was also poor as he struggled to get to grips with the wet conditions and the difficult playing surface.

Still the Irish should have had more to show for their efforts at the end of the half even if the Faroese had held their own for long spells.

At least the hosts didn't lead at the break, however, which they might had Hedin Lakjuni found the bottom right corner after 26 minutes. The midfielder had held off Steve Carr and beaten Shay Given only to see his shot skip a foot or so wide of the right post.

With the locals succeeding in opening up the Irish defence with low through balls into the gap between the full backs and central defenders, there were a couple of other decent chances for the Faroese. Given scrambled one shot behind for a corner under some pressure while another ran low and wide as the goalkeeper clearly had his goal covered.

The game at this stage was going the way of the visitors although not to the extent that might have been hoped with the Irish enjoying the better part of the possession and producing the tidier football while their hosts coped, albeit a little chaotically at times, in defence. However, they showed surprising composure as they hit Kerr's side on the break.

In midfield the Irish were comfortably superior but Roy Keane was having to spend a good deal of his time dropping back to provide additional cover around the edge of Given's area while nothing seemed to be bouncing quite right for Damien Duff who made little impact despite being used in his preferred position out on the left. Andy Reid and Kilbane were, for the most part, the two players doing most to drive the Irish forward while O'Shea's distribution when moving out of central defence was the brightest part in a much improved performance over Saturday's display.

O'Shea was at the heart of Ireland's most promising move of the early stages when he swept past a couple of opponents, played a neat exchange of passes with Reid and then fed Duff who turned the ball inside for Morrison. However, the striker was again adjudged offside and when his goal was disallowed Keane foolishly got himself booked for dissent, a move that leaves him a yellow card away from a second suspension of the campaign when France come to Dublin in September.

Ireland's best chance of the first half came five minutes from time when Reid's shot was parried into the path of Elliott whose close-range follow-up flew off the top of the crossbar when he really should have scored.

Had the Irish not got on top of their task in the second half the miss would surely have haunted the young striker but his role in the opening goal ensured he, like the rest of the Irish team, could look back on this win as a solid if less than spectacular night's work that restores some of the momentum to the campaign for a place at next summer's finals.

FAROE ISLANDS: Mikkelsen; Hansen, Johannesen, Danielsen, Olsen; Benjaminsen; Hohnsson, Jorgensen, R Jacobsen, Lakjuni; Flotum. Subs: CH Jacobsen for Fltoum (59 mins), Borg for Benjaminsen and Akselsen for Jorgensen (both 79 mins).

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Given; Carr (Newcastle United), O'Shea (Manchester United), Cunningham (Birmingham City), Harte (Levante); Reid (Tottenham Hotspur), Keane (Manchester United), Kilbane (Everton), Duff (Chelsea); Morrison (Birmingham City), Elliott (Sunderland). Subs: Doherty (Norwich City) for Morrison (79 mins).

Referee: A Genov (Bulgaria).