Duff's class revives Lansdowne spirit under Kerr

In the tight little corridor that twists beneath Lansdowne Road, drowned out by the teenage screams that greeted Shay Given and the clatter from the railway line that, bizarrely, butts along the stadium wall, Damien Duff hurried past.

Any chance of an interview? "Sorry, lads. I'm off to see me ma," said the startled young man who, no matter the time, looks like he has just tumbled out of bed. Instead he had minutes earlier departed a rutted, ugly football field on which he had confirmed the view, first broadcast at last year's World Cup, that here was a player of world class.

His Irish team-mates were less reticent. "Damien was on fire," said the midfielder Kevin Kilbane. "His pace and skills are frightening. The Norwegians are top of their group (for Euro 2004) and a quality team and Damien made them look mugs. He produced a performance on that pitch, so it shows how good a player he is. Give him another couple of years and he will be up there will the world's best." Then Kilbane corrected himself. "He is already in fairness."

The 1-0 victory over a physical but unimpressive Norway, which continued Brian Kerr's unbeaten start as the Republic of Ireland's manager, was secured by Duff's second goal in the three games he has played under his mentor. Not bad, considering his total before was two in 33 appearances.

But the two men have a bond. Famously, Kerr concluded a lengthy and detailed team-talk, when he managed the Irish youth team, by turning to Duff, the youngest player in the room, and declared that nothing of what he had said applied to him. "Just go out and enjoy yourself," he said "And Duffer, we all love you."

That affection was evident throughout Wednesday evening. Duff, handed a free role, and Robbie Keane gave far more than an end-of-season friendly normally merits. Richard Dunne, another of Kerr's boys, was equally eager to please and excelled.

A win was important. But the best result for the Irish had occurred hours earlier in Tbilisi where the Russians lost to Georgia in a Group 10 match. The Irish, having re-established an air of supremacy at home, now play Georgia, Albania and Russia here. Nine points and qualification for Euro 2004, a distant prospect in the autumn, moves close. "It felt like the Lansdowne of old and we need to continue that now," said Keane.

It would be some achievement for Kerr, 50, but then success has followed a career mainly spent in youth football. He is now reaping the rewards of that long service. Having initially suffered from the dregs of the Roy Keane affair, he is also enjoying a measure of luck. Results affecting the other teams in Group 10, have gone Kerr's way, but he knows above all that he needs Duffer, even if the player himself shies away. And there he was, moments later, sitting in the foyer of the plush Berkeley Court Hotel. Beside the 24-year-old Dubliner was, indeed, his ma.