Idah plays his part with a goal, while Kelleher proves his worth once again with three great second half saves

Israel 0

Republic Of Ireland 3

Cork's Adam Idah was on target as the Republic of Ireland defeated Israel 3-0 in the UEFA Nations League in Debrecen, Hungary on Sunday night

The Douglas native got the second during a burst that saw the Boys in Green score three times in 12 minutes, with Troy Parrott and Jack Moylan also getting in on the action.

The three points puts a politically charged weekend temporarily behind the team after a vote on whether the game should go ahead, a scenario that brought international attention to the squad and Ireland’s relationship with Palestine.

Ireland are now preparing to face Austria at the Aviva Stadium and Israel in the return game in Serbia, as opposed to Dublin.

Sunday was also underlined by the need to make up the shock loss to Kosovo on Thursday in Pristina.

Heimir Hallgrímsson reacted by making five changes to that team with John Egan, Chiedozie Ogbene, Finn Azaz, Liam Scales, and Jason Knight dropped.

The midfield was were the most surgery was done as Moylan, Jayson Molumby, and Conor Coventry were all included, while Ryan Manning returned to play at left wing back instead of Scales.

Idah was the most striking addition as he took the place of Azaz, in an attack that involved a centre forward operating behind Parrott instead of a midfielder.

The rejigged unit immediately settled in, with the first chance of the night getting kicked over the bar by Jayson Molumby.

Ireland kept going, instead of retreating into their defensive shape. Coventry led the press from midfield during these exchanges, while James Abankwah did the running on the right.

The full-back created the first goal off a Molumby cross that Israel failed to clear, by laying the ball off for an onrushing Parrott to finish in the 13th minute.

The second arrived just 90 seconds later from a Moylan pass that sent Idah clean through. The striker scored with his first touch passed Daniel Peretz, to make it 2-0 in the 15th minute.

It was a perfect start, and Israel had absolutely nothing to offer in response. They were only to get through once with a shot from distance, and that was easily stopped by Caoimhin Kelleher.

Ireland shrugged off this minor incursion and got their third in the 25th minute. Kelleher set that up with a long ball over the top that was headed down by Israel for Moylan. The midfielder charged through on his first touch on the right wing and unleashed a shot that Peretz had no chance of getting to.

With a cushion secured, Ireland were able to see out the rest of the half with ease. Manor Solomon did drop a cross onto the penalty spot in added time, only to see his effort headed away by Jake O’Brien.

Israel got the second half underway with a Solomon pass to Dor Peretz for a low strike that was pushed away at the near post by Kelleher. The goalkeeper followed that up with a stretched save to deny Eliel Peretz from distance, with the resulting corner heads away by Dara O’Shea.

Ireland went up the pitch and Idah won the team a corner off a shot that was pushed out of play by Peretz. Israel cleared their lines for a throw-in that was sent in by O’Brien. This was used to set up Idah for a header that went just over the bar.

Things faded out from that point as Israel slowly ran out of ideas, with the three points secured and attention moving on to Thursday’s meeting with group leaders Austria at the Aviva Stadium.

Israel: Daniel Peretz; Anan Khalaili, Guy Mizrahi, Raz Shlomo, Nikita Stoinov, Roy Revivo; Gabi Kanichowsky, Eliel Peretz, Manor Solomon; Dor Tugeman, Oscar Gloukh.

Subs: Dor Peretz for Mizrahi (HT); Idan Toclomiti for Turgeman (64), Ethane Azoulay for Kanichowsky (64), Eli Dasa for Khalaili (76), Ilay Feingold for Revivo (83).

Republic of Ireland: Caoimhin Kelleher; Liam Kitching, Jake O’Brien, Dara O’Shea, James Abankwah, Ryan Manning; Jack Moylan, Jayson Molumby, Conor Coventry; Adam Idah, Troy Parrott.

Subs: Jason Knight for Abankwah (68); Killian Philips for Moylan (68), Tom Cannon for Idah (69), Roco Vatta for Parrott (75), Joel Bagan for Molumby (88).

Referee: Harm Osmers (Germany)