11.10.2014 19:58 h

Keane leads Irish rout of Gibraltar

Robbie Keane scored a hat-trick as the Republic of Ireland made easy work of beating minnows Gibraltar 7-0 in a Euro 2016 qualifier at Dublin's Lansdowne Road on Saturday.

Victory saw the Republic make it two wins from two matches ahead of Tuesday's Group D clash away to world champions Germany.

For Gibraltar, European football governing body UEFA's 54th and youngest member nation, it was their second straight 7-0 drubbing after they went down by the same scoreline against Poland in their first competitive match last month.

Given Keane's quickfire treble put Martin O'Neill's men 3-0 up inside 18 minutes, against a side with just two full-time players, Gibraltar did relatively well to avoid a double-figure defeat.

Gibraltar, with a population of fewer than 30,000 people and just 600 registered footballers, were not expected to offer much in the way of resistance but did at least keep the score to 3-0 before half-time.

However, the floodgates opened after the break as James McClean scored twice, Gibraltar keeper Jordan Perez put through his own net and Wes Hoolahan made it 7-0 before the hour mark.

It took the Republic just six minutes to score their first goal when Hoolahan played in Aiden McGeady behind left-back Joseph Chipolina and his square ball set up Keane to strike his 63rd international goal.

McClean then saw a shot well-saved by Perez but the second goal was not long in coming, when Keane ran on to Hoolahan's pass to make it 2-0 against a static defence.

Keane then scored his third goal in 12 minutes with a penalty when referee Leontios Trattou pointed to the spot after the hard-pressed Perez tripped Hoolahan.

Unsurprisingly, some of the Republic's initial urgency waned at this point, although Perez made a fine fingertip save to keep out McGeady's powerfully-struck shot and leave the score 3-0 to the Republic at half-time.

But within 60 seconds of the re-start, the Irish had their fourth goal, with the 34-year-old Keane, now playing for the LA Galaxy, squaring to Wigan's McClean, who duly tapped in as Gibraltar appealed for an offside flag that never came.

Gibraltar, struggling to adjust to the pace of international football, were 5-0 down in the 51st minute with a goal that summed up their match.

Keane tried to lob Perez but the keeper got a hand to the ball. Hoolahan's follow-up was blocked by Scott Wiseman but Perez then inadvertently deflected the ball into his own net.

McClean, after more good work by Keane, made it 6-0 with a 53rd minute tap-in.

Minutes later it was 7-0 when, after McGeady and Keane combined in the build-up, Norwich midfielder Hoolahan strolled past a couple of attempted challenges before shooting from close range.

Republic of Ireland goalkeeper David Forde had been a virtual spectator for most of the match but he then made an impressive save to deny Gibraltar a consolation goal when he turned Roy Chipolina's powerful header over the crossbar.

Now the only question was whether Ireland -- with Keane having been substituted to make sure he was not injured ahead of the Germany clash -- would equal their record 8-0 victory against Malta in a 1984 European Championship qualifier.

But the fact they did not match that feat was little consolation for Gibraltar.