Kerr (right) enjoyed a win in his first home outing at Lansdowne Road

Man of the match Damien Duff and Matt Holland were looking forward to the summer - and the Euro 2004 qualifiers - after Wednesday's 1-0 friendly win over Norway.

Duff netted the only goal of the game at Lansdowne Road to give Brian Kerr a win in his first game as Republic manager on home soil.

With games against Georgia and Albania coming up, June will prove decisive in Ireland's bid to qualify for next year's championships in Portugal.

Georgia's 1-0 defeat of Russia on Wednesday was good news for the Irish - and both midfielders described the friendly win in Dublin as an important morale-booster.

Duff said: "It was a good solid performance.

"We could play better but Norway stayed back, especially in the first half.

"We got the win - and that's the important thing.

"We tried something different tonight - God knows what we'll do in June but it came off tonight.

We were excellent in the first half Matt Holland

"I got a second bite at the cherry with my goal but they all count."

Holland added: "It's a good result and it sets us up nicely for June - where we need to get two victories.

"I thought we were excellent in the first half, maybe we weren't so good in the second half but they are a physical side who pushed the ball forward early and made it hard for us".

Holland was full of praise for Duff, who enjoyed the freer role given him by Kerr, adding: "Damien can play anywhere.

"He'll give any opposition problems - it was a fantastic performance from him".

Manager Brian Kerr was delighted with the victory in his opening game at Lansdowne Road since taking charge.

"They were an awkward team to play against," said the Irish boss.

"We have probably one of the smallest teams that's ever been on the field for Ireland and we had to deal with an aerial bombardment but we handled it well".

The fans realised I needed to give Alan Lee and Alan Quinn a taste of international football Brian Kerr

While praising Duff's display, Kerr also paid particular mention to centre-back Richard Dunne.

"Richard was smashing and I think tonight was another part of his renaissance.

"I thought he might have got man-of-the-match although of course, Damien was great".

Kerr pointed to Duff's previous success in a free role in several of his underage Irish teams.

"He scored four goals for us at World Cup finals at underage level so I wanted to see how it would go tonight.

"It doesn't mean, however, that he won't play on the wing or upfront in our next game".

Kerr said he was pleased to give international debuts to both Rotherham striker Alan Lee and Sheffield Wednesday's Alan Quinn.

"The crowd were very supportive even though I introduced quite a few subs.

"I think the fans realised that I needed to give Alan Lee and Alan Quinn a taste of international football.