Republic of Ireland 2 - 1 Macedonia: James McCarthy commits as Aiden McGeady finds net

IRELAND's nervy victory over Macedonia has done nothing to clear up the likely outcome of Group B, with three teams now battling it out on ten points, five games in.

But there was one thing put to bed in Dublin last night - the international future of James McCarthy.

In what brought one of the biggest cheers of the night, the Wigan midfielder was introduced in the 87th minute, symbolically replacing Irish captain Robbie Keane for the competitive international appearance that brings to an end a long, and often tedious, debate over his allegiance.

The Scots-born player has represented Ireland from an early age, a wish of his Donegal-born grandfather, Paddy Coyle, and has always intended to remain with the country.

He made a substitute appearance for Ireland in a friendly against Brazil last year.

However, club mates, managers - club and international - have attempted to sway him since, and Roberto Martinez, his boss at Wigan, recently claimed he would not make a decision between Ireland and Scotland until the summer.

His appearance in the freezing Aviva Stadium last night means someone's calendar is mixed up.

The 20-year-old former Hamilton player's appearance brought a cheer at the end of a game that was slowly burning out - but another son of Glasgow had brought it to life early on.

Just 85 seconds in, Aiden McGeady scored his first goal in the green shirt of Ireland, a remarkable 38 appearances after his debut in 2004.

Giovanni Trapattoni's men then raced into a 2-0 lead within 21 minutes through Keane.

Both goals were thanks mainly to two glaring errors from Macedonia goalkeeper Edin Nuredinovski.

He allowed McGeady's shot to beat him at his near post and then spilled Darron Gibson's free-kick at the feet of skipper Keane with predictable consequences.

However, Ivan Trickovski pulled one back on the stroke of half-time to keep the game in the melting pot, and the second half was far too even for the liking of anyone in green.

Without the experienced defensive trio of Shay Given, John O'Shea and Sean St Ledger, Ireland appeared to be cruising.

Keiren Westwood, Darren O'Dea and Kevin Foley made competitive debuts for the hosts and the Coventry keeper and the on-loan Celtic defender both impressed.

Ironically, it was the experienced Richard Dunne that was at fault for Macedonia's first half strike, allowing Trichovski too much space and time to cut inside and finish well under Westwood.

Dunne would later receive a yellow card that rules him out of Ireland's trip to Macedonia in June, a fixture that is crucial is this tight group.

There was some other, faintly remarkable, entertainment in the first half when Trapattoni, enraged by the failure of Macedonia's players to put the ball out and allow Shane Long to replace the injured Kevin Doyle, walked on to the pitch - and also barged the linesman.

He, too, may miss the trip to Macedonia.