The Republic of Ireland won the second and final game of their three-nation qualifying group in Moldova yesterday when an 83rd minute Robbie Keane goal was enough to ensure safe passage to the intermediary qualifying round of the European Under-18 Championships.

Having already beaten Azerbaijan 4-2 on Wednesday, Brian Kerr's side now await the winners of Group Three, involving Georgia, Greece, Macedonia and Romania in a two-legged play-off early next year, with a place in the finals in Cyprus in July at stake.

After a tame first half, Ireland were rescued on the double by goalkeeper, Dean Delaney in the 67th minute, when he stopped a rasping shot before saving from point-blank range, to the dismay of the 5,00 partisan crowd.

Irish substitute, Liverpool's Richie Partridge, began to cause problems and had a penalty appeal turned down before starting a move which ended with Ryan Casey finding Keane, who struck the winner with precision and style.

Manager, Kerr, praised his team for patiently sticking to their task in trying circumstances: "I felt that we were the better team and it would have been a different game had we scored earlier."