A last minute goal from Abas Suan denied the Republic of Ireland a victory in Israel following Birmingham City striker Clinton Morrison's strike just 4 minutes into the game.

Manchester United's Roy Keane and John O'Shea completed a full 90 minutes for Brian Kerr and now the Republic top their group on goal-difference as France were held to a goalless stalemate at the hands of Switzerland.

Morrison got the game off to an unexpected bang, hammering home Damien Duff's cross from a tight angle to silence the home crowd.

Skipper Roy Keane produced an influential performance and picked up a yellow card in the proceedings for a challenge on Benayoun. The caution rules him out of the return fixture.

As Ireland were seconds away from 3 World Cup Qualifying points, Suan’s low powerful shot found the back of Shay Given's net much to the shock of the visitors.

However, boss Brian Kerr remains upbeat. "When the goal comes so late, it feels like the points dropped," he said. "They fought hard to the end. I felt we were generally in control. It’s disappointing to lose a goal so late, there’s no doubt about that."

"Before the match, we would have felt it was a fantastic result to get a win and a good result to get a draw so we got a good result"

Final Score: Israel 1 - 1 Republic of Ireland
Att: 39,000