Former Boys in Green midfielder Andy Reid has praised what proved to be an extremely mature away performance from Ireland in Vienna in Saturday evening's World Cup qualifier.
The Boys in Green were resolute and incisive when necessary as James McClean scored the winner shortly after half-time in the 1-0 victory over Austria at the Ernst Happel Stadium.
The result means Ireland are unbeaten from their first four games and have won three of them to sit top of the qualifying group in the battle to reach the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Reid was on co-commentary duty for Newstalk's live coverage of the game in Vienna and immediately after the final whistle he was full of praise for Martin O'Neill's men.
"It's absolutely fantastic. I felt it was a really, really good performance," he said of the overall performance which improved markedly in the second '45.
"I still thought that they kept their shape really well, they played a good away performance in the first half and I felt there was a chance there for them in the second half."
Reid also picked out some of the individuals who shone including the centre half pairing of Shane Duffy and Ciaran Clark.
"That chance came to James McClean and it was a fantastic finish. As I said, it was a mature performance from Ireland. It was a good performance. There was some really, really good football played at times, especially in the second half. They played on the front foot, they won second balls, they won tackles and they won headers," said Reid.
"The two centre-halves were absolutely magnificent tonight. They won every single header and Harry Arter in midfield was fantastic."
Ireland will resume the qualifying campaign in March 2017 against Wales, with that match being the half-way point of the campaign after the 90 minutes are played.
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