Murphy pleased to repay O'Neill faith

Daryl Murphy was delighted to have been able to repay the faith shown in him by Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill after the striker scored both goals in the 2-0 win over Moldova at the Aviva Stadium.

Knowing that nothing less than a victory would do for the Boys in Green in their attempt to qualify for next year's World Cup, Murphy volleyed home from close range in just the second minute to calm the home side's nerves.

The Nottingham Forest man then finished off a wonderful move with a lovely header on 19 minutes to effectively end the game as a contest.

Victory means that Ireland head to Cardiff where they require a win to secure second place and, if results in other groups go their way, a place in next month's play-offs.

"It was nice to score," Murphy told RTÉ Sport. "There was a bit of faith from the manager to start me in such a big game and I knew I had to produce and thankfully I took a few chances.

"It’s always nice to get an early goal especially in a game like this, you don’t want it dragging out and the longer the game goes on and it’s 0-0 then you start getting a bit restless.

"It was nice [his second], a great cross and I just timed it well really, I didn’t have to put too much power on it. It was all in the cross I just had to direct it and thankfully it went in.

"It probably wasn’t our best performance but I think the result was all that mattered tonight. We knew we needed to win, we’ve done the job, kept a clean sheet so we’re happy.

"We’ll see what happens [for Wales on Monday], we’ll see what the manager thinks. I think it’s just a case of rest and recovery now and look to the big one."

Image: ©INPHO/Tommy Dickson

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