If Saturday's subdued World Cup game at Lansdowne Road proved anything, it was that even in the frenzy of modern football, there is still time and a role of some substance for the older player. In a novel decision which didn't apparently meet with the approval of Mick McCarthy, the local press corps brought a welcome element of maturity to the ritual of making an Opel Man of the Match award by giving it, deservedly to the 32 year old Gheorghe Hagi.

And there was nothing in the home performance to compare with the contribution of Ray Houghton who, elevated to the team captaincy at the age of 35, produced probably his best international display in years.

Taken in conjunction with Tony Cascarino's late affluence which produced an 84th minute equaliser and a record 10th World Cup goal for the French-based player, it was, indeed, an occasion to savour for the older generation.

For the rest, however, it was largely a non-event in which the first priority, it seemed, was for the players on yellow cards to avoid a second booking and an automatic suspension from the play-offs.

Nikolai Levnikov, the Russian referee, had obviously read the script and while there was nothing in the game which approximated to violence, he portrayed the image of an avuncular uncle determined to ingratiate himself with everybody on this, his first visit to Dublin.

Add in the persistent rain which swept the pitch from end to end and it made for a difficult day for another capacity crowd. Yet, the manner in which a highly improvised Irish team hauled their way back into the game after falling behind early in the second half, ensured that their patronage did not go unrewarded.

The end product was that Romania failed in their objective of becoming the only European team to go through the World Cup qualifying series with a flawless record. And that had to be a source of some gratification for the Irish management team.

It was overall, a curious performance by the Romanians who seemed intent on doing no more than was absolutely necessary on the day. Playing into the teeth of the elements in the opening half, they often contrived to look more dangerous in that period than at any stage of their 1-0 win at Bucharest in April.

Breaking at pace, they occasionally looked in a different class than the Irish. Hagi now operates in a more detached role, rarely involving himself at the heart of the battle and yet, he remains a potential matchwinner around the fringes.

Some of his sleight of foot was positively breathtaking but no less than those around him, he appeared to lose his sense of urgency after he had fired the visitors into the lead with a superbly flighted free kick in the 53th minute.

Adrian Ilie and Dino Moldovan, on the burst, were exhilarating and Ilie, whose goal separated the teams in the first game, was denied what seemed to be a legitimate claim for a penalty after being fouled by Gary Breen in the opening half.

In that situation, Ireland did well to dig out a draw in the last half hour and in apportioning the credits, McCarthy was entitled to enthuse at length about the imput of the effervescent Houghton. Over the years, he has built a substantial reputation as a give and go player, a man who plays the short, simple pass better than most.

This was the occasion, when he displayed another, unsuspected side to his game, the ability to split defences by means of the through ball, executed with precision. And on at least three occasions, he found the gaps between Liviu Ciobotriu and Anton Dobos at the centre of the visiting defence.

Once again, however, Ireland's finishing left much to be desired and in this, there is indeed cause for concern as McCarthy assesses the tasks of the weeks and months ahead. In the end, it required a deft touch by Cascarino, now on a flood tide of confidence to spare the manager a long, painful inquest.

Seconds before he equalised, the big man was marginally too late to make contact in front of goal with Houghton's inviting cross. But it soon all came right for him when Breen headed on a corner by Mark Kennedy and Cascarino threw himself at the ball to head his 19th international goal, only one short of Frank Stapleton's Ireland record.

Elsewhere, there were more encouraging signs that Kennedy is ready to deliver on the promise of his early career. He may be having his problems at club level at Liverpool but for the second successive occasion, he showed that his rate of development in international football is quite impressive.

Assured and comfortable on the ball, he ran at the visiting defence with some conviction but his best chances always seemed to fall on his weaker right foot. Yet, he did enough on the day to make it hard for McCarthy to leave him out when he gets around to the more serious business of selecting a team for the play offs.

Breen and Babb did reasonably well at the centre of the defence but for Babb, there was the disconcerting experience of being caught for pace as the gifted Ilie moved on to Moldovan's pass insde the penalty box. The referee correctly whistled for the despairing tackle by Breen which followed and the Romanian was by no means the only surprised party in the stadium when Levnkov signalled that the foul had taken place on the edge of the 18 yards area rather than in it.

Terry Phelan, who found himself with the most difficult assignment in the Irish defence after Hagi taken taken up station on the right wing, did reasonably well but Lee Carsley, the Derby newcomer, was at times, bypassed by the pace of the game and, sadly, Jeff Kenna was again some way below his best form at right back.

The Blackburn player, seldom less than highly effective last season, is having a difficult time but his problems, it has to be said, were exacerbated by Jason McAteer's dereliction of his defensive duties.

McAteer was never close enough to lend assistance when Romania on the counter charge, threatened to rip the home defence apart in the first half. That doesn't auger well for the future and McCarthy I suspect, will now be re-appraising the claims of two of those he left out, Denis Irwin and Gary Kelly.

Alan Kelly preferred in goal, to the yellow carded Shay Given, looked sharp enough in the first half, despite his lack of match practice. But he should have prevented the Romanian goal when Hagi's free kick, carried on the wind, sailed over his head to hit the roof of the net early in the second half.

Before that, Bogdan Stelea had looked quite the more vulnerable of the two goalkeepers, needing a timely intervention by Dobos to rescue him after losing track of Kennedy's inswinging corner kick in the 31st minute.

Kenna, at the summit of his afternoon, was entitled to expect a better reward after matching his pass to Kennedy's incisive run in the 51st minute. On this occasion, however, the Liverpool player got his feet tangled and the toe poked shot missed the target from close in.

Hagi's goal, a thing of beauty, followed soon afterwards but Cascarino, Houghton and Kennedy had all gone close before an explosion of sound signalled the moment that Cascarino ended one record and closed in on another.