Republic of Ireland 2 - 0 Oman

On a crisp and chilly night in Dublin, the Republic of Ireland defeated Oman at the Aviva on a score-line of 2-0 thanks to goals from Kevin Doyle and Alex Pearce in preparation for their European qualification journey that's coming just around the corner.

With goalkeeping hero Shay Given back in the fray, Richard Keogh captaining the side and David Meyler slotting in, rather unusually at right-back, there were quite a few oddities in place as the match kicked-off.

Sadly, one of the fixtures that remained constant was the uninspiring performance from Martin O' Neill's men. And although they registered their first win of the year, this was a fixture they would have been fully expecting to win in any case. After all, back in 2012, the Irish overcame Oman with relative ease by beating them 4-1.

In a drab first half that had more than its fair share of passing sequences that went nowhere in particular, the Boys in Green did indeed manage to take the lead. And a credit to the goalscorer as it was a fantastic goal too.

Swinging a corner in from the right, it was Robbie Brady who found the head of Kevin Doyle and he made no mistake to fire a bullet header past Ali Al Habsi. And from there, it looked like the Green Army might just push on and put a few more past the Wigan Athletic man.

But instead of moving through the gears in the first half, they instead seemed content to spray the ball around from side to side.

And then on the half-hour mark, the home side began to play with a bit more urgency as Alex Pearce had a goal-bound header that was cleared away to safety by a man on the line, and just six minutes later David Meyler did his best to capitalise on a poor Al Habsi punched clearance, but his shot clipped the crossbar instead.

The second half coincided with a number of changes for both sides as both Paul Le Guen and the Irish managerial duo of O' Neill and Roy Keane did their best to mix things up. But still both sides continued to lack fluidity, despite some industrious work.

In the 55^th minute, Kevin Doyle should have doubled his lead with a header, but it turned out to be a rather tame effort as the ball bobbled harmlessly into the grateful custodian's hands. Then, in the 63^rd minute, Oman conjured up a shot in anger of their own as Eid Al Farsi, who was probably the Omani's best performer, unleashed a shot from distance – but it careered off his own man and went wide.

Undoubtedly the most clear-cut chance in the second period that the hosts failed to convert fell to Aiden McGeady a mere nine minutes after coming on. Slaloming past his defender, he beat Al Habsi, but much to the chagrin of the homes fans, Mohammed Al Musalami got back to hoof the ball clear. Incidentally, the Toffees winger almost rattled the net again in the 89^th minute, hitting the woodwork with a ferocious drive from 25 yards.

In the end, though, Ireland got their second goal. Again, it was a set-piece that heralded the danger as a cross was delivered in from the left, Richard Keogh knocked it down for Alex Pearce and the Reading player produced a smart turn and finish to fire home.

So, it was a mix of beginnings and endings during the week as Ireland got their first win of the year with an experimental side in certain positions. After this comes a trip to Tbilisi to face Georgia as O' Neill's men kick-start their journey on the road to Paris.

Ireland: Shay Given (Rob Elliot 45); David Meyler (Daryl Murphy 86), Richard Keogh (c), Alex Pearce, Stephen Ward; Anthony Pilkington (Aiden McGeady 59), Darron Gibson (Glenn Whelan 70), Stephen Quinn, Robbie Brady; Wes Hoolahan (Robbie Keane 59), Kevin Doyle (Shane Long 59).

Unused subs: David Forde (gk), Marc Wilson, Seamus Coleman, John O' Shea, Anthony Stokes.

Bookings: Gibson (68)

Oman: Ali Al Habsi; Jaber Al Owaisi, Saad Al Mukhani, Abdul Al Mukhani; Mohammad Al Musalami, Hassan Al Ghailani (Ali Al Busaidi 59), Ahmed Al Muhaijri (Ali Al Jabri 59), Eid Al Farsi (Abdul AzizMuqbali 80), Raed Saleh (Mohammed Al Mashari 87); Mohammed Al Siyabi (Hussain Al Hadhri 77), Qaseem Hardan (Yaqoob Al Qasmi 59).

Unused subs: Faiyz Al Rushidi (gk), Faiyz Al Rushidi, Ali Al Nahar, Fahad Al Jalbobi, Sami Al Ihsni, Juma Almashari.

Bookings: None.

Referee: Illias Spathas (Greece)

Attendance: 14,376

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Kevin Doyle