Keane delivers sweet justice for Irish

For the second time in five days the Republic of Ireland chiselled a draw out of an unpromising rock of a match and celebrated it, on the pitch and in the stands, like a victory. Amid the bedlam of the dressing room – and Germany's must have seemed like a morgue in comparison – Mick McCarthy found it necessary to remind his players that there remains a job to do against Saudi Arabia in the final group match.

What he will need to emphasise once the statistical ramifications of the table have been digested is that it could well prove necessary to defeat the presumed whipping boys of the section by more goals next Tuesday than Cameroon manage against them in Saitama today. At the risk of spoiling the parties that are probably still going on in Dublin this breakfast time, that is not an aspect of the game at which the Irish have ever shone. In 11 games at the World Cup finals, they have never scored more than once, building their comparative success at each tournament on miserly defending. The best hope is for a positive result either way in Cameroon's match with Germany, which would eliminate the losers, but Ireland will not want to depend on that.

What McCarthy can claim with every justification is that his team deserve, at the very least, the two points they have clawed back from unpromising positions. On Saturday they turned round the game against Cameroon with that combination of spirit and skill (the latter easily under-estimated) that has marked their best work over the three competitive campaigns of the manager's reign. Last night, the same qualities were in evidence, though reward came much later – tantalisingly so.

Niall Quinn's entry to his first match at the finals since the epic quarter-final defeat by Italy in 1990 – he missed out four years later with injury – was the catalyst. Sent on as a bold replacement for the left-back Ian Harte, he brought about an element of panic in the German defence. One early foul offered a free-kick perfectly positioned for the dead-ball specialist Harte, which Robbie Keane curled past a German wall that looked as long as Hadrian's. Quinn's next touch was just a fraction too heavy for his fellow Dubliner, allowing the outstanding Oliver Kahn to slide out and clear. With three minutes to play Quinn deftly took down Steve Finnan's cross, and tried an over-ambitious chip that landed on top of the net.

Three minutes of added time were signalled and two of them had been played when Finnan, restored to the side from the start in place of Jason McAteer, played in one last cross. This time Quinn's nod down was perfectly weighted for Keane, who was able to sweep it into the net via Kahn's hand and a post.

Apart from McAteer's winner against the Netherlands last September, it was difficult to recall an Irish goal being greeted as wildly.

There was sweet justice too in Quinn being so heavily involved. His final tournament before retiring from international football seemed a week ago to have been blighted by the whole Roy Keane saga, leaving him "shattered and drained" by his involvement in negotiations costing more than one night's sleep. He claimed to have found release only on the training pitch and yesterday transferred it to the beautiful Kashima Stadium, which will go down in Irish football folklore as the venue for one of the great days.

"I had to take a chance to try and get a goal," McCarthy said. "We threw men forward and it paid off. We'd discussed with Niall at half-time what we'd want him to do and he did exactly that. And I think we've been the better side here." He added: "It's a great result. We have given ourselves a chance. We're in with a shout."

His one quibble was with the marking for the goal that Miroslav Klose scored just as a pattern was emerging, with Germany painting it. In the 12th minute, Carsten Jancker had beaten Gary Breen in the air for a header that was close enough to Shay Given to make the goalkeeper's save comfortable. Seven minutes later, Michael Ballack's angled cross offered an even better opportunity, which Klose took by stealing in front of Harte for a firm downward header, followed by his trademark somersault.

If Ireland seemed at that point to lack exactly those two players – a Ballack to create and a Klose to finish – they clawed their way back with typical spirit. By half-time Matt Holland had all but reprised his Cameroon goal, driving a fraction the other side of the post from an identical position; and Keane had taken the wrong option in attempting an overhead kick when he had time to bring the ball down following Christoph Metzelder's miscued header.

It was still something of a surprise to see Ireland credited with 57 per cent of possession in the first half. That figure seemed likely to increase after the interval and duly did so as Germany unwisely settled for playing on the break. Jancker, lobbing over Given and past the far post as Finnan played him onside, wasted their best chance to capitalise, and Damien Duff had Ireland's, bringing an excellent save from Kahn as Kevin Kilbane nodded down the first of several telling crosses from Finnan.

A third defeat in 23 games seemed imminent, before Quinn arrived to start chipping away at the rock-face. He will need his pickaxe again next Tuesday.

Germany 1
Klose 19

Republic of Ireland 1
Keane 90