Tuesday 26 March 2019 23:53, UK
Mick McCarthy saluted Conor Hourihane's "magic wand" of a left foot after the midfielder scored a sensational free-kick against Georgia.
Hourihane struck a sublime free-kick to notch a 1-0 win for Republic of Ireland to send them top of Group D, making it two wins on the bounce for new boss McCarthy.
Dozens of tennis balls were hurled on to the pitch from the stands in protest of John Delaney's new role as Hourihane lined up his free-kick from 25 yards. And, after a delay of about three minutes, the Aston Villa man bent his shot around Shane Duffy - who was making a nuisance of himself in the wall - and into the corner of the net.
Hit the video at the top of the page to watch the strike and read on to see what the key players thought of his sensational strike.
"I'm delighted with it. It's my first international goal, it's been a good week.
"Shane's a big lad and I've scored a couple of them over the season around the wall so I said to Duffy move them out of the way to give myself a chance, and lucky enough it went in.
"It was always a goal of mine to play for my country. The second goal was to score a goal. I'm lucky enough I've ticked both boxes already in my international career so it's time to kick on and look forward to the summer games.
"It's been a brilliant week with the new gaffer. A breath of fresh air. I take set-pieces for my club so I wanted to get on them here. The gaffer has put his faith in me and I've repaid it."
"He's got a wand of a left-foot. I've always admired him. I tried to sign him at one point but we had no money - the usual. I've been really impressed with him."
"It's a great strike by Conor but I've got to highlight Shane Duffy in the wall - he just leans in and takes the man out, leaving the space for Conor to put it in there. It's those little things that make a big difference. But it's a great strike and a great weapon to have in your ammunition."
"He's got great technique - we see that at Aston Villa. The goalkeeper has got no chance as it just whips in."
