Stephen Kenny acknowledges November could spell end of tenure

Ireland's 4-0 victory over Gibraltar in Faro may not change the opinions of the decisionmakers when it comes to deciding on the future of Stephen Kenny's roll with the national team, and the manager acknowledged that the November double header "may well be" the last games of his tenure.

But it was certainly a welcome win for the under-pressure manager following the disappointing defeat in Dublin to Greece on Friday night, as there was real pressure on Kenny to make sure that his side were not the first team in history to drop points to the team from the Rock in European qualification.

Thankfully for Kenny, he did not have to endure a scoreless opening 45 minutes, as was the case in Dublin last year, as Evan Ferguson was on hand to settle the nerves with a steady finish at the near post.

And it was a goal of real quality as Chiedozie Ogbene drew two players out wide on the right before sliding a perfect pass to right back Matt Doherty, who was looking to get forward from the opening whistle, and the Wolves defender sent a tempting ball across the face for Ferguson to clip home.

"It’s better to score an early goal than obviously the last time going in at the break [scoreless]," said Kenny, speaking at the post-match press conference.

"It was well worked, it’s what we have been working on so it’s good to see it come to fruition.

"With Matt (Doherty), Jason (Knight) and Chiedozie (Ogbene) working those openings on both sides, and the fact that Evan (Ferguson) delayed his movement… Sometimes strikers get across the front two too early and it kills the angles, so by delaying his movement and coming really late made it easy for himself, so that was good."

The blanker defence was not easily breached, however, as Ireland still seemed a