Cyrus Christie has put the Republic of Ireland on course for a victory against Gibraltar, which would take them above Scotland in Group D of Euro 2016 qualifying.

The Boys in Green dominated possession in the early stages and almost made their breakthrough when Ciaran Clark headed Robbie Brady's free kick against the crossbar before the hosts managed to clear the danger.

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On 12 minutes, Ireland thought that they had taken the lead when Robbie Keane managed to create space on the edge of the box before his cross was headed into the net by Jonathan Walters. However, the Stoke City forward was in an offside position.

Midway through the half, Brady found Keane with another pinpoint ball and, with the Los Angeles Galaxy forward bearing down on goal, his effort was the wrong side of the post.

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Moments later, Walters was close to making the breakthrough again, but his volley was blocked by Joseph Chipolina as Gibraltar managed to keep Martin O'Neill's side at bay for the opening quarter.

However, Ireland finally took the lead on 26 minutes as Christie's shot appeared to catch out Jordan Perez in the Gibraltar goal as the ball rolled into the net.

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Seconds later the Republic were nearly two ahead as a speculative strike from distance by Walters forced Perez to tip the ball over his own bar.

Gibraltar almost forced themselves back on level terms before the interval after Liam Walker's volley brought a rare save out of Shay Given before he fired off another strike, which the Stoke keeper was also equal to.

Written by
Chris O'Keefe