Robbie Keane marked a record-breaking appearance for the Republic of Ireland by scoring a hat-trick to fire them to a 3-0 win over the Faroe Islands this evening.

Keane opened the scoring in his record 126th cap after just five minutes, rolling the ball past the keeper having been found by Aiden McGeady.

He added two more after the break, finishing from close range on both occasions.

Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at a match that saw Ireland move up to third in their World Cup qualifying group.

Match statistics:

Ireland:
Shots 16
On target 12
Possession 60%
Corners 14
Fouls 7

Faroe Islands:
Shots 2
On target 0
Possession 40%
Corners 1
Fouls 10

Was the result fair?

Absolutely. Ireland perhaps would have wanted to win by more, but they were never in danger of losing tonight's match. The Faroe Islands created nothing going forward and spent the vast majority of the match defending in numbers. Ireland found it tough to break through at times, but they dominated from start to finish and were fully deserving of the three points.

Ireland's performance

Not exactly awe-inspiring, but they did what they had to do. The quality of the opposition was incredibly low, so it is hard to rate the Irish performance, but they showed some neat link-up play and played some nice football at times. Even so, they struggled to create many chances given how much of the ball they had, so there is still plenty of room for improvement.

Faroe Islands' performance

As poor as ever. They were never going to get anything out of today's match, and they knew it as well as anyone. They rarely ventured out of their own half and, when they did, lacked the quality to create any real chances. They did defend quite well in numbers, crowding the middle of the park and making it hard for Ireland to play through them, but they were negative tactics that were harmful to the match as a spectacle.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Robbie Keane: There was only one man for this award. Keane just keeps producing the goods for Ireland and there aren't many better ways to cap a record-breaking appearance than with a hat-trick. He took his goals well and was involved in a lot of the other good things Ireland did this evening. Aiden McGeady deserves a mention for his performance, but it was all about Keane today.

Biggest gaffe

It wasn't all good news for Keane today. He missed a sitter in the first half when he shot straight at the keeper from close range. Unusually for Keane, he hesitated before shooting, which allowed the keeper to close the angle and smother the Ireland captain. It was a huge chance for him to add to his record goals tally.

Referee performance

It was a very quiet game for Matthias Gestranius. He didn't have any major decision to make and there were no potentially tricky flashpoints to deal with. The only minor criticism that could be levelled at him was the decision to book Rogvi Baldvinsson for what appeared to be a good tackle.

What next?

Ireland: A significantly tougher test awaits Ireland in their next match as they take on Spain on Wednesday.

Faroe Islands: The Faroe Islands face an away match against Sweden on Tuesday.

Written by
Barney Corkhill